Joanna Potter, Harry Potter's twin sister (year one)
by lmf121
Summary: Follow Harry Potter's story through his twin sister Joanna Potter. All rights belong to JK Rowling.
1. Preface

Joanna Potter was standing alone in a dark house. There was something about being there that made her feel uneasy, like she knew she wasn't supposed to be there in that moment. As she stared around, her feet began moving on their own, leading her to the bottom of the staircase. From there she could hear voices, realizing that she was no longer alone. A woman was pleading, crying even, as a man laughed back in response. The laugh was high pitched and cold, making the hairs on the back of Joanna's neck stand up. Her feet continued to move forward, onward up the stairs, to a place she knew she didn't want to go. But any effort in trying to stop herself was useless. It was as if her feet had a mind of their own, leading her towards the man and woman upstairs.

Once on the second floor, Joanna found herself standing in a long hallway. There was a room at the other end of hall with its door wide open, illuminating the hallway with light. Again, Joanna's feet pulled her ahead. _Please stop, please stop, please stop_ , she thought to herself. She didn't want to go into that room.

Now she was close enough to hear what the voices were saying.

"Give me the boy," said the cold voice. There was a bit of amusement in it. "The girl I could care less about, she is useless to me. But I will kill her too."

"No!" screamed the woman. "I won't let you take my children away from me."

Joanna's heart was racing, her hands shaking, beads of sweat dripping down from her temples. The door was only inches away from her now.

"Stand aside," said the cold voice.

"Please, please, not my children," pleased the woman. "Take me instead, leave them be. They're only babies. Take me. Kill me."

At this point, Joanna is standing in the doorway. She could see a tall figure in a dark cloak with its hood up, their back to the door. The woman must have been in front of him, because Joanna couldn't see anyone else in the room. But taking a quick glance around, she could tell it was a nursery.

"If you don't stand aside, you will meet the same fate as your husband, the fool."

Please listen to him, Joanna begged silently to the woman. Do what he says.

"No, not my children, please," the woman sobbed.

As Joanna entered the nursery, she saw the cloak figure lift one of his arms toward the woman and screamed words she could not understand. There was a flash of green light, and Joanna was lifted off her feet, falling... falling... falling... BAM!


	2. Chapter 1

Jo shot straight up looking wildly around in the darkness. Her breath was short and quick, as if she had just ran a full marathon. Sweat plastered her long red hair to her face and neck, and her hands were shaking violently. _That poor woman, she must be dead. That man killed her._ She tried to erase the image of the cloaked man out of her mind, but every time she blinked, all she saw was the blinding flash of green light. Taking a deep breath and closing her eyes, Joanna began counting up to five. _One... two... three... four... five._

"Jo?" asked a sleepy voice from beside her. "JoJo, are you okay?" It was Harry Potter. Jo's twin brother.

Harry and Joanna Potter have been living with their Aunt, Uncle, and cousin all their lives. Their parents were killed when they were just babies in a car crash, or so their relatives have told them. Somehow, Harry and Jo had both survived. While Jo managed to escape without at scratch, Harry received a lightning bolt scar. Their relatives had forbidden the twins from asking any questions about their parents, so the car crash was all they had of their parents, besides each other.

Unfortunately for the twins, their relatives, the Dursleys were not exactly the warmest of people. They were cruel and horrible to the twins, never missing an opportunity to torment them. As part of their harsh treatment, besides the endless chores and mean remarks, the twins were forced to sleep together in the small cupboard under the stairs. It was fine when they were both younger, but now that the twins were almost reaching 11 years of age, the cupboard was beginning to get rather cramp for the two of them, even if they were small for their age. There was only enough room to fit a small mattress and nothing else.

Jo sighed. "I'm fine," she said quietly, and laid back down on the bed looking up at the bottom of the staircase. The flash of green light was fading away. Counting to five had been a trick Harry had taught her. Only give fear five seconds and nothing more. Jo's breathing had slowed down and her hands were no longer shaking.

"It was that nightmare again, wasn't it?" Harry asked, rubbing his eyes and yawning.

Jo looked over at her brother and couldn't help but smile as he squinted at her. Harry had horrible eyesight and could rarely see anything without his glasses. Even though he was laying right beside Jo, she knew she only looked like a blur to her brother. She reached over to their shelves of little belongings and grabbed Harry's glasses, handing them over to him. "Here," she sighed, "And yeah, the very same one."

"Thanks," Harry said graciously, putting his glasses on. There was tape on the brim of the glasses, no doubt from being broken a dozen or so times by their bully of a cousin. "Well, you're awake now and safe with me," said Harry, giving his sister a wink. Jo smiled in return. Harry was truly the best brother and she couldn't imagine going through anything with the Dursleys without him. He was the only thing that got her through each and every day of hell.

A thumping noise came from upstairs and Jo groaned. "They're alive, sadly..."

Harry gave a small chuckle. "Better get ourselves ready," he said, and grabbed the bed sheet to make a barrier in between the two.

Once the sheet divided the two of them, Jo grabbed a clean shirt and slipped into a pair of jeans. Jo always got made fun of at school for the clothes she wore because they were old clothing, mostly from second hand stores or yard sales. She never owned anything new. Quickly, she threw her hair up into a ponytail and then grabbed an outfit for Harry. "Okay, your turn," she said, taking the sheet from Harry and holding it in place.

A minute later, there was rapid banging on the door of the cupboard. "Up. Get up. Now!" said a shrill voice. It was their Aunt Petunia, their mother's sister. She was the only living relative they had, which is how they got stuck wit the Dursleys.

Jo groaned again, a little too loudly.

"What was that?" asked Aunt Petunia.

Harry pulled the sheet out from Jo's hands and rolled it up. "Nothing, Aunt Petunia," he said quickly, giving his sister a stern look. Jo rolled her eyes. Harry was way better at not getting into trouble with Aunt Petunia than she was. She always felt like Aunt Petunia hated her a bit more than Harry.

"Did you not hear your Aunt? She said get up," growled another voice. That was Uncle Vernon. There was a click of the lock coming undone. He had unlocked the door for the twins.

As Jo started for the door, Harry put his hand on her arm to stop her. "Jo," he began seriously. "Please, don't do anything stupid today, okay?"

Jo returned her brother's steady gaze. "I know," she said quietly. "The same goes for you as well."

The moment between the twins was lost when a series of loud thumps came down the stairs. "Wake up, Potters!" shouted a voice. It was Dudley, their cousin. Dudley was the biggest bully on the block, tormenting the twins and any other kid smaller than himself. They couldn't even escape him at school. Everyone knew that the Potters were related to Dudley so no one wanted anything to do with either of them because they were scared of Dudley. It was another reason why Jo was so grateful she had Harry. She couldn't imagine being so alone at school.

Jo moved to the cupboard door again and pushed it open. She was halfway out when she felt a sudden force on her shoulders, pushing her back down into the cupboard. She landed on top of Harry, feeling his kneecap going into the small of her back. _That's going to bruise..._

"What losers," sneered Dudley, and then he disappeared from sight.

"Ouch," Jo heard Harry grumble.

"Sorry, Harry. That was Dudley," said Jo, grimacing as she moved into a sitting position. Harry was rubbing the back of his head. He must of hit it on the back wall.

Harry gave a big sigh, "It's a new day," he said. "A brand new day."

Jo gave a small laugh and pushed herself out of the cupboard and turned around to help Harry out. "Always an optimist."

Before entering the kitchen, Jo turned around to Harry and whispered, "Brace yourself." The demands began as soon as they entered the kitchen. "Bring me my coffee, girl," barked Uncle Vernon. He was sitting at the kitchen table with the newspaper opened across the table. The only way to describe the man is to say he looks liked a pig with clothes on. Jo never found it hard to imagine, he's a very convincing pig.

"And you," spat Aunt Petunia to Harry, "cook the breakfast. Try not to burn anything." Aunt Petunia was the complete opposite of Uncle Vernon. She was very thin and bony, with a long neck.

"Yes, Aunt Petunia," said Harry. He walked over to the stove where the eggs and bacon had already been started. Jo walked over to the counter to start the coffee.

"Where's the birthday boy?" boomed Uncle Vernon.

 _Shoot, it's Dudley's birthday._

Dudley came running out of the living room with an unopened birthday present in his hand.

"There he is," Aunt Petunia said happily.

"Happy birthday, son," Uncle Vernon beamed.

The sight unfolding before Jo made her want to gag. She looked over at Harry and stuck her tongue out as if she were about to vomit. Harry rolled his eyes and went back to cooking.

"I want everything to be perfect for my Dudders special day!" said Aunt Petunia, and she led Dudley back into the living room. Jo was so bored at what was happening in front of her that she forgot about Uncle Vernon's coffee until he yelled, "Hurry up! Bring me my coffee."

"Yes, Uncle Vernon," Jo said quickly and took a mug out of a cabinet. Jo poured it quickly and walked it over to her uncle slowly as to not spill it.

"Aren't they wonderful darling?" Jo heard her Aunt Petunia say to her son. Once she placed the coffee down in front of her uncle, she could see what Aunt Petunia was talking about. There was a mountain of presents in the living room, and all of them were for Dudley.

Jo had a sudden image of seeing herself picking up Dudley's gifts, ripping them apart, and throwing them out the window. "How many are there?" asked Dudley, pulling Jo out of her thoughts.

"Thirty-six," answered Uncle Vernon proudly. "Counted them myself."

Jo turned around back to Harry and held up three fingers, then two, then one, and Dudley exploded. "Thirty-six?! But last year I had thirty-seven!"

Harry shook his head and narrowed his eyes as he put the breakfast on plates and carried them over to the table. Jo began pouring orange juice into glasses.

"Well some of them are a bit bigger than last years'," began Uncle Vernon, trying to reason with his son. But Jo knew he wasn't going to be able to get anywhere with Dudley. They've spoiled that kid so much, giving him anything he wanted. Whereas for Harry and Jo, they never even wished them a happy birthday.

"I don't care how big they are," said Dudley angrily.

And just like Jo predicted, Aunt Petunia said quickly, trying to calm Dudley down. "This is what we're going to do. When we go out, we're going to buy you two new presents. How's that pumpkin?"

Jo glared at Aunt Petunia and Dudley. It wasn't fair that her aunt and uncle gave everything to an ungrateful boy. No wonder why the twins haven't had that extra bedroom, it was filled with the useless birthday presents Jo knew that Dudley only played for a day or two before kicking it aside. All he ever has to do is cry and with the snap of a finger, he gets exactly what he wants.

"Wipe that look off your face, girl," spat Uncle Vernon.

And that was it.

Jo looked at her uncle, ignoring Harry's looks of warnings. "I have a name you know. It's _Joanna_. And I'd appreciate it if you used it. Clearly no one has ever taught you manners."

Silence.

 _Great, now I've done it_.

Uncle Vernon threw his fist down on the table, spilling his coffee all over, making Jo jump. He stood up so quickly that she didn't have enough time to avoid the hand coming down on her. Uncle Vernon smacked Jo hard across the face with enough force to knock her over to the floor. The pain was instantaneous. Blinking fast, she saw black and white spots clouding her vision.

Harry made a move as to come over to Jo, but Uncle Vernon pointed a short fat finger in his direction. "You stay right where you are," he growled at Harry. Then he was on top of Jo, facing her to stand back up by pulling her hair. Jo gave out a cry.

"Stop it!" yelled Harry, "Leave JoJo alone, you're hurting her."

 _"Stop it. Leave JoJo alone, you're hurting her,_ " mimicked Uncle Vernon in a mocking tone. He continued to hold Jo by the hair. "I will not have the two of you ruining my boy's birthday. I won't have it"!

Uncle Vernon gave another yank of Jo's hair and pulled her out of the kitchen into the hallway. Then he opened the cupboard door and pushed her inside. She landed on the mattress hard, but that was the least of her worries. "You stay in here," Uncle Vernon spat at her. And then he slammed the door shut and Jo heard the snap of the lock.

She didn't even bother to turn the little light on in the cupboard. Instead, she curled up on her side, pulling her knees into her chest with one arm, and rubing the side of her face with the other. When Jo pulled her hand away, it came away wet. At some point in her altercation with Uncle Vernon she had started crying. She didn't even remember when it started.

With her cheek and head throbbing, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "One..." she whispered quietly, "two... three... four... five."

Soon after, Jo heard voices outside of the cupboard. "Get your sister and come out to the car," said Aunt Petunia.

The lock on the door came undone and Harry appeared on the other side, looking anxious. He bent down and came into the cupboard slowly. "Oh, Jo," he whispered quietly, taking Jo's face into his hands examining her cheek.

"Don't worry about it, Harry. It wasn't your fault," Jo muttered.

"You shouldn't have said anything to him," said Harry quietly, not looking Jo in the eyes. "You let your temper get the best of you."

"You think I don't know that?" Jo snapped, pulling away from her brother.

"Look, JoJo, I don't want to fight with you, not now," said Harry. "I have good news to tell you."

"What could possibly be good news?"

"Mrs. Figg couldn't watch us today," said Harry with a smirk. "Which means we're going to the zoo with the Dursleys."

Jo stared at Harry, her jaw dropping. _The Dursleys are actually taking us to the zoo?_

"That's right," said Harry, reading his sister's mind. "They don't want to leave us alone here because they think we'll do something," Harry rolled his eyes, "and they don't want to leave us in the car either. Which leaves them with taking us to the zoo."

Jo had never been to the zoo before, neither of the twins had, and she had never dreamed she would have the chance to go. There had been many chances to go with school, but Uncle Vernon had banned the twins from going to any field trips, forcing them to remain at school while the rest of their classmates went to amazing places.

Harry moved out of the cupboard and into the hallway, Jo following him quickly. Uncle Vernon was standing at the front door, waiting for them. Jo scooted closer behind her brother and Harry took ahold of her hand. Harry made sure he was between his sister and Uncle Vernon the entire time. Jo hated how Uncle Vernon could make her feel so small.

When they made it the car door, Jo was just about to climb inside when Uncle Vernon slammed the door shut. Jo gulped and turned around to face him. Somehow, Uncle Vernon seemed to get much bigger than usual as he stared down at Jo with his little black eyes. Harry's hand in Jo's tighten and he took a slight step to be in front of her. Jo wished he'd wouldn't do that, there was no need for both of them to be in any pain.

Uncle Vernon narrowed his eyes as he pointed the car keys in their faces. "Now I'm warning you," he said threatening. "Any funny business, anything at all, and there will be no meals for a week... for either of you."

Funny business. Jo knew exactly what he meant by that. Sometimes, unusual things would happen whenever either Harry or Jo were around. One time, Aunt Petunia gave Harry a horrendous hair cut. Then she turned towards Jo with the scissors and backed her into a corner. Jo didn't want her to come near her hair at all, crying and begging her Aunt Petunia to not cut her hair. And then suddenly, when Aunt Petunia was standing right in front of Jo, she screamed and dropped the scissors. They somehow became so hot, that they burned Aunt Petunia's hand. Aunt Petunia still had the scars to prove it. And the next day, when Harry woke up, his hair had grown back to normal. So yeah, Jo knew exactly what funny business Uncle Vernon was referring to.

Finally, Jo was in the car with Harry and the Dursleys on their way to the zoo. Her mood began to change once Uncle Vernon had parked the car and she could see the zoo entrance. And things were great once they were inside. Seeing the animals up close and in person was so much better than seeing them in books. Harry and Jo made sure to walk a few paces behind the Dursleys, not giving them an excuse to do anything to either of the twins.

Jo's excitement grew even more when they headed for the reptile and amphibian building. The inside was dimly let with glass casings up and down on either side of the walls. The Potters followed the Dursleys up to on exhibit.

Dudley began banging on the glass. "Move!" he yelled. "Make him move, Dad."

Uncle Vernon looked bored. He tapped on the glass. There was no reaction from the snake within the exhibit.

"It's asleep," said Harry, glaring at his cousin.

Dudley scoffed. "This is boring," he said and he and his parents moved on to the next exhibit.

Jo scanned the room twice before finally seeing the sign she was searching for. "I'm gonna go over there," she said to Harry.

"What, you don't want to see the giant snake?" Harry asked amused.

Jo shuddered, "Ew, no thank you. Snakes are gross. Turtles are way better."

Harry laughed, "Should have known it was the turtles."

Jo stuck her tongue out at her brother and moved across the room to the turtle exhibit. She doesn't know what it is about turtles, but she's always had a sort of obsession about them, turtles being her favorite animal and all. She was just about a foot away from the turtle exhibit when she heard a shriek, then another, and then another.

"WATCH OUT!"

"SNAKE!"

"RUN!"

Jo turned around to see her brother laying on the ground as a giant snake slithered outside of its exhibit. It paused in front of Harry and Jo's heart stopped for a moment. But the snake didn't attack. It almost looked like it was speaking to Harry, and Harry talking back to it. Jo shook her head quickly. The snake then began making its way down the long hall of exhibits with people running to and fro, moving out to its way. Jo shuddered, watching the snake move out of sight.

Then suddenly, Jo heard her Aunt Petunia give a cry and started to have a full blown freak out. She screamed again and pointed to the glass in front of her. Uncle Vernon's mouth dropped to the floor, and Jo heard Harry laughing.

She gave one last longing look at the turtle exhibit before turning back towards her brother. It didn't take long for her to figure out why Aunt Petunia was crying hysterically. Jo stopped dead in her tracks, taking in the scene. Dudley was inside of the snake exhibit, the very same one that the giant snake just escaped from, and he was stuck inside, banging against the glass for his mother.

Jo felt the corners of her mouth go up as she walked over to Harry and helped him up. "Did you-?"

"Yeah I think so," said Harry with a smile. Then it vanished. Jo looked over her shoulder to see Uncle Vernon giving the twins a death glare. Looks like they just lost their meals for a week.

When they returned home, Uncle Vernon shoved the twins right into their little cupboard, slamming the door hard.

Jo gave a big sigh, "Well it looks like we both couldn't help doing something stupid today."

Harry gave her a small smile, "Sorry you didn't get to see the turtles," he said quietly. "I know you were really excited about that."

Jo gave Harry a small nudge in the side, "Don't worry about it Harry, there will be other times." She tried to sound optimistic as Harry did this morning, but she knew Harry saw right through it. They both knew that the likelihood of there being other times was rather slim.

And that was life with the Dursleys. Nothing but harsh treatments and disappointments. So as Harry and Jo laid there in the darkness, waiting for the Dursleys to fall asleep so they could steal some food, Jo dreamed of a life where she and her brother could feel like they belonged.


	3. Chapter 2

"Ouch!" Jo mumbled early the next morning. Her side felt as if it had been punched multiple times throughout the night. It wasn't hard for her to figure out why. Harry's boney elbow was pressed against the her rib cage. _We have got to get out of this cupboard,_ she thought to herself.

"Move over," she grumbled at her brother. Harry groaned but didn't move. "Fine," she said in annoyance and reached over, flicking the back of Harry's ear.

"Hey!" Harry said with a start.

"Well that's what you get for not staying on your side of the mattress," Jo said, sitting up. She rubbed her side and added, "Just another injury to add to the list."

Harry sat up quickly. "Don't say that Joanna," he said, giving his sister a hard look. And Jo knew he was serious. Harry only ever called herJoanna whenever he was supper serious about something. It was way to early to start their day off like this, so Jo reached out a hand and ruffled her brother's jet black hair. Not that it need any help from her. His hair was always a mess.

Besides Harry needing to wear glasses, his black hair, and a lightning bolt scar, those were the only differences between the twins. They did, however, share the same green eyes. Jo often wondered which parent they inherited them from.

"Stop that," said Harry, swatting Jo's hand away. She knew he hated whenever she messed his hair up even more.

The twins did their usual morning ritually getting dressed, taking turns behind the sheet before switching. As Jo was holding up the sheet for her brother, a horrible smell engulfed the cupboard. "Ugh, do you smell that?" Jo asked, crinkling her nose. It smelled like rotten eggs.

"Yeah... excuse you," said Harry from the other side of the sheet.

"Shut up," Jo said quickly, but couldn't help but laugh.

When Harry had finished changing, Jo opened the cupboard door and led the way out into the hallway. She almost started gagging. The odor was much stronger out in the hall, and it seemed to be coming from the kitchen. "This should be good," Jo mumbled and led the way to the kitchen.

Harry suddenly grabbed a hold of Jo's arm gently, "Remember," he said quietly, "don't do anything-"

"Stupid," Jo finished for him. "Yeah, yeah, I got it." And she did. Jo knew she didn't want to have another repeat of the previous day. No, she was going to be on her best behavior today.

When the twins entered the kitchen, Jo and Harry were greeted by death glares from all three of the Dursleys. Clearly they were still very unhappy about the mishap at the zoo.

Uncle Vernon sat at the kitchen table with the newspaper out in front of him. Aunt Petunia was standing over the stove, stirring something in a pot. Jo didn't want to know what she was working on because that was where the smell was coming from. And Dudley was standing across from his father wearing the most hideous outfit.

Jo bent down quickly and pretended to tie her shoelaces to avoid laughing in Dudley's face. He looked utterly ridiculous!

"Pictures!" squealed Aunt Petunia and she disappeared from the kitchen. She retuned a minute later with a camera.

Dudley posed for a picture happily in his Smeltings uniform, the school he would be attending in the fall. Thankfully for the twins, they were going to Stonewall High together and were finally escaping Dudley and his gang of bullies.

When Jo stood back up, Harry gave her a smirk. She punched him lightly in the arm and looked back over at Dudley's photoshoot. "Thank god you're not going there," she whispered to Harry. "I would disown you as my brother if you wore that uniform."

"I think I would disown myself," Harry whispered back, making Jo smile.

"Smile," came Aunt Petunia's voice from behind the camera.

Flash.

"Ohh, Vernon, just look at him!" Aunt Petunia said proudly, beaming at her soon. Jo rolled her eyes. "He'll be off to Smeltings in just a week!"

"Proudest moment of my life," said Uncle Vernon, smiling broadly.

Dudley looked over at Harry and Jo, noticing them watching the Dursleys. "Jealous, Potters, are you?" he sneered.

"Of that?" Jo said out loud before she could stop herself. So much for behaving today.

Uncle Vernon pointed a short fat finger in her direction. "I'll have you know, _girl_ ," he spat out, "Smeltings is where I received the best education. It's a fine establishment. It's an honor being accepted into the academy."

"Dudders is very smart," added Aunt Petunia, fussing over Dudley's uniform.

Jo could have made some sort of remark about Dudley's intelligence, but she felt Harry's warning gaze on her. Instead she asked, "If that's Dudley's uniform, where is mine and Harry's?"

Dudley gave a fake laugh and Uncle Vernon smirked. Aunt Petunia's face, however, darkened. She walked out of the living room and returned with a plastic bag a moment later, flinging it at Jo. Jo opened the bag to find a grey jumper. "What's this?" she asked, holding up the jumper.

"Your uniform," said Aunt Petunia with satisfaction.

Jo looked down at the jumper and frowned. _This has to be sort of joke._ She could practically hear the Dursley's triumphed expressions at her reaction to the uniform.

"Do I even want to ask about mine?" muttered Harry.

Aunt Petunia pushed passed Jo an Harry towards the stove. A large steaming pot sat on the top. Aunt Petunia picked up a spoon and began stirring whatever what was inside. "This is what you're going to be wearing once I finish dying it," said Aunt Petunia.

Harry walked over to see what was inside the pot. "But that's Dudley's old uniform!" Harry protested.

"Those won't fit him," Jo added.

"They'll fit him well enough," said Aunt Petunia coldly. And that was the end of that conversation.

The little flap for the mail squeezed open and they all heard the soft thud of the mail hitting the doormat. Uncle Vernon looked straight at Jo, "Get the mail."

"But I'm making your coffee," Jo said as sweetly as possible, walking over to the coffee machine.

"Get the mail, Dudley," Uncle Vernon said in a bored voice, returning to his paper.

"Make Harry get it," whined Dudley.

"Get the mail, Harry."

"Make Dudley get it," Harry fired back.

"Dudley, hit him with your stick."

 _Stick?_ Jo turned around just in time to see Harry duck as Dudley swatted him with a stick she had not noticed earlier. Dudley was way too slow to catch Harry, however, and her brother moved swiftly out into the hall to get the mail.

"I can't wait to use this in school," said Dudley excitedly, swinging his whacking stick around. Aunt Petunia smiled fondly at her son. Jo couldn't believe how both her aunt and uncle were so oblivious to how evil their son is to other kids.

As Jo walked over to Uncle Vernon with his coffee, Harry reentered the kitchen with the mail. He wore an expression of amazement and confusion together.

Jo placed Uncle Vernon's coffee in front of him and Harry handed him the mail, except for two envelopes. Jo looked at her brother questioningly as he handed her one of the envelopes. Looking down at it, she read the address:

Ms. J Potter

The Cupboard under the Stairs

4 Privet Drive

Little Whinging

Surrey

 _How do they know where we sleep,_ Jo wondered in astonishment. She looked up at her brother in shock, his thoughts exactly the same as hers. She was about to open her letter when Dudley suddenly stanched Harry's envelope out of his hand. "Dad! DAD!" Dudley shouted, waving Harry's envelop in the air. He raced over to his father. "Harry's got a letter! So does Jo!" At that, Jo quickly put her hands behind her back, holding the envelop tightly.

"Hey, stop!" yelled Harry, who tried to get to Dudley before he got to Uncle Vernon. For once, Harry was just too slow. "Give it back! That's my letter!"

Uncle Vernon gave a cold laugh. "Who would be writing to the two of you?" he sneered, taking the letter from Dudley. Jo watched as Uncle Vernon looked down at the letter. Suddenly, his face began to pale and his jaw dropped. "Petunia," he said quickly, and Aunt Petunia hurried over to her husband's side. She gave a little gasp when she saw the letter and looked up in fright at Jo and Harry.

Uncle Vernon stood up quickly, his eyes on Jo. "Give me that letter," he said darkly.

Jo took one step backwards, her letter clutched in her hand behind her back. "No," she said, with as much force as she could muster. Uncle Vernon's stare was deadly.

"Give me the letter," he said again, dangerously.

Harry took a step towards Jo. Wrong move. Uncle Vernon pushed him hard against the wall. Harry grimaced in pain, holding his shoulder.

A sudden anger rushed through Jo. "You didn't have to hurt, Harry," she said angrily. She couldn't stand it when Uncle Vernon would hurt her brother. "Harry was just-"

However she never finished her sentence because at that moment, Uncle Vernon made a beeline across the kitchen towards her. Jo kept backing up until there was no where else to go. Her back was resting on the counter top behind her.

"I said," Uncle Vernon spoke quietly, "give me that letter."

Jo gulped. She honestly preferred a screaming Uncle Vernon than to this quiet, venomous one.

When she hesitated, Uncle Vernon lifted one hand in the air, ready to strike. And at that, Jo slowly brought the letter out from behind her back and held it out in front of her. Uncle Vernon's hand swooped down and Jo closed her eyes, waiting for the blow. Instead, she felt her letter being ripped from her hand. She let out a breath, not realizing she had been holding it.

"Get out! Both of you!," said Uncle Vernon to the twins. He was breathing heavily. "Go to your cupboard." Jo didn't need to be told twice.

Once in the cupboard, Jo turned to her brother. "Are you okay?"

Harry nodded his head, "Are you?"

"No," she said, balling her hands into fists on her lap. She was suddenly furious at herself. Furious for letting Uncle Vernon get to her like, making her feel so insignificant, for making her fear him. "I can't believe I just gave him my letter," Jo finally said after a moment.

"He wasn't giving you a choice, JoJo," said Harry, rubbing his shoulder. Then he gave a big sigh. "I'm sorry, I was stupid. I should have threw the letters in here before going back into the kitchen. We could be reading those letters right now if I had just left them behind."

Jo's heart sank. No one had ever written a letter to either of the twins, at least not to her knowledge. And now the one time someone is trying to contact them... they'll never see the inside of those letters now that Uncle Vernon's hands were on them. As much as Jo wanted to say she agreed, she just couldn't. "It's okay."

In the next two days that went by UncleVernon made sure that he was the one to get the mail and that Harry and Jo were too busy to be around. On the third day, Harry was outside cleaning the yard while Jo was in the kitchen cleaning. There was a loud noise coming from the living room. It sounded like the shredder. Jo put the mop in the bucket, leaning it against the counter top and walked to the living room doorway, peering her head around the corner. She didn't want Uncle Vernon to see her. But he was sitting on the couch with his back towards her anyway. There were stack of letters in front of him. _We got more letters,_ Jo thought to herself. She watched as Uncle Vernon picked up a letter from the top of the pile and placed it into the shredder.

Jo turned around and went back into the kitchen, her emotions going everywhere. First, she was completely angry at Uncle Vernon for shredding the letters, but that surprisingly wasn't what bothered her the most. The fact that there was a stack of letters in that room... a stack! Which means two things. One: whoever is sending the twins these letters definitely knows they haven't read them yet, and two: whoever is sending the letters, they're sending a lot more than just one... These letters were important.

Sunday rolled around and still Harry and Jo had been unsuccessful at getting ahold of their letters. And they've been getting so many, and in strange ways too.

One morning, Aunt Petunia was cracking eggs for breakfast, only to find a letter in each and every one of those eggs. After that, she went through all the food in the house. Harry and Jo were also noticing owls flying around Privet Drive, and during the day, which is quite unusual for owls. Despite all this, Uncle Vernon was very good at making sure not one letter was in the possession of the twins.

Jo was in the kitchen cleaning up the dishes from breakfast when she heard Uncle Vernon asking Dudley why Sunday was the best day. She rolled her eyes. _Like Dudley could answer that question._ "Because there's no posts on Sunday," answered her brother.

"Right you are, Harry," said Uncle Vernon in a happy tone. "No posts on Sundays."

Jo gave a loud sigh as she was wiping the kitchen table down. She had to come up with some way of getting a letter. She just couldn't let Uncle Vernon keep winning.

Just as she was thinking about a plan, there was a low rumbling sound coming from the living room where the others were. Jo put the rag down and entered the other room, looking for Harry. Standing next to him, she asked, "Do you hear that?" Harry nodded.

The rumbling noise was getting louder and louder. The Dursleys and Potters all looked towards the fireplace where the noise was coming from. Jo backed up once picture frames began falling over. Something was coming.

WOOSH!

All of a sudden, Jo was seeing white blurs flying out of the fireplace and into the living room. Harry grabbed her arm and pulled her as far away from the fireplace as he could.

"What the bloody-" yelled Uncle Vernon. Aunt Petunia gave a shriek and backed up against the wall. Dudley fell to the floor, covering his head.

Whatever was coming out of the fireplace, it wasn't stopping anytime soon. Jo looked down quickly as the white blurs fell to the floor around her feet. She saw the hand writing on the front and recognized it immediately. "Harry!" she yelped excitedly. "Harry, its our letters!"

Harry reached down and grabbed one at random.

"Oh no you don't," said Uncle Vernon, snatching the letter out of Harry's hand.

Harry grabbed another one, and another one, pulling away from Jo. Uncle Vernon was on hot pursuit after Harry, screaming and trying to get the letters from her brother.

 _Ah, I see what you're doing_ , thought Jo. Sometimes she didn't give Harry enough credit. He was leading Uncle Vernon out of the living room and away from Jo and the others. Unlike Jo, Uncle Vernon didn't have a twin to stop her.

Jo looked quickly over at her aunt who had made her way over to Dudley and was on the floor with him. She wasn't paying any attention to her. Jo reached down and grabbed a letter addressed to her, and one to Harry. She quickly stuffed them in her pocket. Once Jo had done this, the letters stopped zooming out of the fireplace.

"Let go of me!" she heard her brother yell from out in the hall. Jo rushed out to him.

Uncle vernon had his arms around Harry grabbing the last letter out of his hand. Harry looked at Jo quickly, his eyes wide. Jo gave him a wink in return and knew he understood. Harry's plan worked, and Jo now had two letters hiding in her pocket.

"That's it!" yelled Uncle Vernon. His face was purple and his breathing was out of control. "We're going far away! Somewhere where they won't be able to find us!"

And before Jo knew it, she, Harry, and the Dursleys were in the car with their bags of belongings and were pulling out of the driveway of number 4. As they pulled away from Privet Drive, Jo's desire to take the letters out to read was driving her crazy. She could feel the letters burning into her leg from the pocket. But she knew she couldn't read them now, not in front of the Dursleys. Her only thoughts as they drove to somewhere unknown was wondering what was so important about the letters resting in her pocket.


	4. Chapter 3

After driving around all day looking for a random place in the middle of nowhere, very far away from society, it wasn't until nightfall that Uncle Vernon was satisfied with the perfect place to stay. Somehow, Uncle Vernon managed to find a small, broken down hut on top of a rock surrounded by water on all sides. The Dursleys and Potters had to take a boat ride in order to get to the hut, and it was a horrible ride. By the time night had fallen, the winds picked up as a storm approached, bringing in cold rain, thunder, and lightning, just as Uncle Vernon closed the door shut behind them.

Jo took in their surroundings. There were only two rooms in the hut. The one they were standing in, and a bedroom off to the side. The place smelled like mold and all of the windows were boarded up. There was hardly any furniture; just an old couch with a lampless table. Jo was hopeful when she spotted the fireplace, but then realized there was no dry wood to even burn. It looked like it was going to be a cold night for all of them.

"No letters will reach you out here," said Uncle Vernon very cheerfully. Jo glared at him, which only made Uncle Vernon smile in delight. She had to play the part. She couldn't let him figure out what exactly was hiding in her pocket.

The Dursleys settled in for the night, ignoring the twins completetly. Aunt Petunia had found some blankets and made a bed for Dudley on the couch, who complained the whole entire time about not having a tv to watch one of his shows. While Dudley was to sleep on the couch, Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia took the only bedroom the hut had to offer. And that left Jo and Harry with absolutely nothing.

"I guess we're to sleep on the floor," said Harry glumly.

Jo sighed and walked over to the only closet in the room with a broken door. There was one blanket left that Aunt Petunia left behind. Maybe she did care for the twins in some small way. Jo picked up the blanket, which now she realized had many dark, questionable stains on it. Never mind, she thought. Aunt Petunia would rather them sleeping on the dirty blanket than her precious Dudders.

Jo walked back to Harry and held the blanket up. "Only thing we get," she said to him. He took the blanket from her and laid it out in front of the dark and empty fireplace and they both laid down for bed. Harry took his jacket off and folded it up neatly, making a pillow for Jo.

As the night when on, the storm outside got much worse. Rain smacked loudly against the door and boarded up windows. Jo kept tossing and turning, trying to get comfortable, but sleep just wasn't an option for her, nor for Harry. Dudley on the other hand was snoring away, almost as loud as the thunder outside. Jo noticed Harry laying on his stomach perched up on his elbows. He was drawling something on the dirty floor. She rolled over and sat up to see what he was doing.

Looking down at the dust settled floor, Jo felt the corners of her mouth form into a smile. Harry had drawn a birthday cake with eleven candles on top. Again, she was reminded how truly lucky she was to have Harry in her life. He returned her smile when Jo looked up at him, then he nodded towards Dudley, pointing at the watch on his fat wrist. Ten minuets until they would turn 11. Jo scooted closer to Harry and leaned her head on his shoulder as they both watched their birthdays getting closer and closer, both lost in thought.

With two minutes to go until their birthday, Jo rolled over and stuffed her hand into her pocket, slowly pulling out the two letters. "I guess this is the best time to open them," she said quietly, not wanting to wake Dudley.

Harry's eyes widen with excitement when he saw the letters in her hand and a big smile lit up his face. My brother has a nice smile, Jo thought to myself, actually realizing it. It's not too often that Harry smiles. She wish he did more.

Jo handed Harry his letter, "Don't say I never gave you anything for your birthday," she said jokingly.

And just like that, Harry's smile disappeared as he said sadly, "But I don't have anything for you." Usually they made something for each other, but being in their current situation, there wasn't any time.

Jo thought for a moment. "Here," she said suddenly, and took Harry's letter away and gave him hers instead. Now he had Jo's and she had his. "We'll wait for our birthday to open them," Jo said to him, "our gift to each other is our letters."

Jo looked back at Dudley's watch, and just like that, it was only a few more seconds until her and Harry's birthday.

Dudley's watch starting beeping right at nodded towards the birthday cake on the floor, "Happy Birthday, JoJo. Make a wish," he said.

Jo closed my eyes. I wish for these letters to change mine and Harry's lives somehow, for the better, she thought. Opening her eyes, she looked at her brother and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "Happy birthday, Harry."

Then she gave Harry his letter, and he gave her letter. Jo took a deep breath, rereading the address on the front. Whoever wrote this letter, they know something about the twins. It wasn't a coincidence they both got the same letter with the same address of their cupboard. This means something. She turned the envelop over and ripped it open, Harry doing the same. Jo almost had the letter out when...

BOOM!

Jo shot up from the ground staring at the door. "There's someone out there," she whispered to Harry.

BOOM! The whole house was shaking. Whoever was knocking out there had to be huge.

There was another loud bang at the door. Dudley bolted up, looking as confused and stupid as ever. Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon, who somehow had a gun, came rushing out of their room. Harry and Jo were on their feet, staring at the door with wide eyes.

With one last bang, the door was knocked in and smashed to the floor with a loud crash. Harry pulled Jo aside up against the wall hiding, while the Dursleys shrieked at whatever was at the front door.

One... two... three... four... five... Jo took a deep breath and leaned out a little from behind the fireplace. Harry grabbed her hand, "Joanna, don't," his whispered quickly. But she ignored him. Curiosity was getting the best of her. Jo peeked her head out from around the corner and felt her jaw drop and her eyes open wider, if that was even possible. She quickly moved back behind the wall.

"It's a giant!" Jo whispered breathlessly to her brother.

Harry looked at her incredulously, "Jo, giants don't exist."

"Well then it's a very large man," she said frantically. "I know what I saw."

Jo peeked out again just in time to see the large man pick the door off the ground and put it back in the doorframe with hardly any effort. "Yup, differently a giant," she said with a gulp, leaning back.

"Sorry 'bout that," said a deep, but friendly voice.

"I demand that you leave at once," came Uncle Vernon's voice, trying to act all big and tough. "You are breaking and entering..."

Jo peered out again with Harry this time. Harry gave a gasp when he saw the man walking towards Uncle Vernon in only a couple strides. Aunt Petunia shrank behind Uncle Vernon, who's eyes widen as he held the gun in his hands shakily.

The giant stopped right in front of them and growled, "Dry up, Dursley, you great prune." Then he grabbed the barrel of the gun and bent it upwards. The gun went off, the Dursleys yelled, and Harry pulled Jo back behind the fireplace. Both of them were breathing quickly.

Thump... thump... thump... The man moved over to the couch just around the corner from where Harry and Jo were hiding. "Mind, I haven' seen yeh, since yeh were a baby, 'arry, but yeh a bit more along than I expected. Particularly 'round the middle. And where's yeh sister?"

That made Jo snort, her fear had disappeared. "That's not Harry," she said before she could stop herself and she quickly clapped her hand over her mouth.

The giant of a man stepped into view. He had a smile on his face and a crinkle in his eye as he looked from Jo to Harry. For being so large, he seemed very harmless, almost teddy bear like. Jo felt her nerves completely melting away.

"It appears yeh are right," said the man. "And yeh must be Joanna."

Jo smiled at that, "Jo... just Jo."

"Boy don't yeh look like yeh parents," said the giant. "Yeh both have yeh mother's eyes." That made Jo smiled. They had their mother's eyes after all.

The giant man was looking at the twins fondly, like he had know them their whole lives. It felt strange to Jo seeing someone looking at her and her brother that way. She had never known that feeling before.

"Oh, almost forgot," the man said, shaking his head quickly as if clearing his thoughts. Then he began rummaging through his coat pockets searching for something. Within in seconds, he was holding a box. "A very happy birthday to yeh both." He handed it to Harry who opened it quickly.

Inside was a cake. A birthday cake, for Jo and Harry. Jo smiled as big as she ever had in her entire life. They had never, not once, had gotten a birthday cake from the Dursleys. And yet this complete stranger standing in front of them, took the time to bake a cake for the twins. She couldn't believe it.

"Oh, one second," said the man, and was looking through his coat pocket again. This time he came out with a small butter knife. Why that was in his pocket, Jo had no idea. The giant bent down at the cake, "Afraid I might have sat on it at one point," he said, spreading the icing on top around, "But I imagine it'll taste just the same." Jo giggled.

The giant stood up with satisfaction. "There." Jo leaned over and looked at the cake. It now read: Happy Birthday Harry & Jo. He had gotten rid of the 'anna' part to her name. "It's perfect," she said, almost tearing up.

Harry placed the cake down on the table next to the couch. "Excuse me," he said, finally speaking up, "not to be rude, but who are you?"

The man chuckled as he sat down on the couch, caving it in. He pulled an umbrella out of his coat and pointed it at the fireplace. A second later, the fireplace was roaring with flames, warming the little hut up. For the hundredth time that night, Jo felt her eyes widen and her mouth drop. How did he do that?

"The names Rubeus Hagrid," said the man as he fixed the fire, "Or just Hagrid," he added, winking at Jo. "I'm Keeper of Keys and Grounds of Hogwarts." He put his umbrella away and then turned to Jo and her brother, "Of course yeh know all about Hogwarts," he added.

Jo and Harry looked at each other in confusion. Jo had never heard of a Hogwarts before, and she know neither did Harry. She shook my head at Hagrid and said, "Sorry, no."

"No?" repeated Hagrid, looking at the Potters like they were crazy. "Blimey... didn't yeh ever wonder where yeh parents learned it all?"

"Learned what?" asked Harry quickly.

Hagrid looked at Jo and Harry in disbelief. "Well, yeh a witch and wizard of course."

"We're a what?" Harry and Jo said together.

"Yeh mean to tell me," said Hagrid slowly, "that yeh don' know nothin'?"

Jo coughed, "Anything," correcting Hagrid. Then she looked down quickly feeling embarrassed. "We do know somethings," added Harry defensively, feeling insulted.

Hagrid shook his head, "No, no, no. I mean 'bout our world, yeh parent's world."

"What world?" Harry asked.

"So you mean tell me," Jo said slowly, trying to grasp her head around the situation, "that I'm a witch, and Harry's a... a-"

"A wizard," finished Hagrid, beaming at the two. "Once yeh two have been trained up a bit, yeh'll be just as good as yeh parents."

"But I can't be a wizard," said Harry, still in shock. "I mean, I'm just Harry."

"Well, just Harry... Just Jo," Hagrid said, staring at the two of them with a small smile. "Did yeh ever make anything happen, anything yeh couldn't explain when yeh were angry or scared?"

Jo and Harry looked at each other in understanding. Jo instantly thought back to the time when Aunt Petunia tried to cut her hair. She remembered feeling scared that Aunt Petunia was going to make her look horrible. Or the time when she got knocked over in the girls lavatory by Annie Green. Jo was so mad, that all water from the toilets shot up and flooded the bathroom...

Hagrid raised an eyebrow when he saw the realization on their faces, "Yeh see, yeh belong in the wizarding world."

Jo's mind was all over the place. I'm a witch, she thought. There's a wizarding world? Does he mean I can do magic? Hagrid broke her from her thoughts when he said, "I was sent to give yeh yeh letters," he said, but smiled and pointed to their hands, "But it seems like yeh already got 'em."

Jo looked down, completely forgetting about the letter that she held in her hand, partially opened. So this is it. Finally she and her brother get to see what all the fuss was about, why Uncle Vernon didn't want them seeing these letters.

"Where did you get those?" growled Uncle Vernon suddenly.

"DURSLEY!" Hagrid boomed, standing up and looking at Uncle Vernon with a dark look. Uncle Vernon shrank back against the wall with Aunt Petunia holding on to him for dear life. Jo smiled sweetly at Uncle Vernon before getting back to the letter.

Her hands were shaking in excitement as she tore open the envelope and pulled out the letter that was so important for her and Harry to get. Jo looked over at Harry, his eyes already scanning across the letter, his mouth dropping.

Once Jo had opened the letter, she started to read it out loud to no one in particular, "Dear Ms. Potter, we are please to inform you that you have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." She looked over at Harry, "Is this really happening?" Harry's letter said the same exact thing!

Uncle Vernon came rushing over to the twins, "They will not be going, I tell you," he said loudly, and snatched Jo's letter out of her hands, throwing it into the blazing fire.

"Hey!" Jo yelled, her eyes swimming with tears ready to fall. Harry grabbed her hand in comfort.

Well that didn't sit well with Hagrid at all. "Oh and I supposed a great Muggle like yerself is goin' to stop 'em," he said in a threatening tone.

"Muggle?" asked Harry.

"Non magic folk," Hagrid explained, and then returned his dark glare at Uncle Vernon.

"We sore when we took them in we'd put a stop to all this rubbish!" said Uncle Vernon, not backing down.

"You knew?" Jo said, staring at her uncle with hatred and disbelief. "You know all this time and you never told us?"

"Of course we knew," snapped Aunt Petunia. "How could you not be?" She moved across the room to stand beside Uncle Vernon. "My perfect sister, being who she was. Oh my mother and father were so proud the day she got her letter..."

Jo felt Harry's hand tighten around hers. He was just as angry as she was.

"... We have a witch in the family," Aunt Petunia continued, "Isn't it wonderful? I was the only one to see her for what she was... a freak! Then she met that Potter boy and had you two. And I knew you two would be the same, just as strange, just as .. abnormal." Aunt Petunia's eyes fell on Jo's, "Especially you," she sneered at her, "Spiting image of my sister you are. A constant reminder of the family I despised..." She shook her head is disgust. "And then, if you please, she went and got herself blown up, and we got landed with you."

"Blown up?" Jo and Harry said ogether.

"But that's not what you told us!" said Harry.

"You told us our parents died in a car crash!" Jo finished.

"A car crash!?" yelled Hagrid suddenly, "a car crash killed Lily and James Potter?!"

"We had to say something," sneered Aunt Petunia.

"It's an outrage! A scandal! These twins are famous, and they don't even know anythin' 'bout their parents or where they belong?" Hagrid said angrily.

Famous? Jo wondered. Why on earth would they be famous?

"They will not be going," said Uncle Vernon, as firmly as possible.

"These kids have had their names down ever since they were born!" boomed Hagrid, "They're going to the finest school of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the world, AND, they'll be under the finest Headmaster that Hogwarts has ever seen... Albus Dumbledore."

"I will not pay to have some crackpot old fool teach them magic tricks!" said Uncle Vernon angrily.

Jo whistled out loud, now he's done it, definitely gone way too far with Hagrid. And she was right, because in that moment, Hagrid grabbed his umbrella and pointed it right at Uncle Vernon who flinched in fear. "Never," Hagrid said in a deadly tone, "insult Albus Dumbledore in front of me."

Jo looked at Hagrid in awe. Finally somebody was here to put the Dursleys in their place, and Hagrid did just that, intimating Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia so much that they backed up all the way to Dudley. Jo had almost completely forgotten he was here until now. Oddly though, Dudley had his back to the conversation and was bending over something.

"Rude, he's eating our cake," Jo said under her breath. Hagrid made a disgusted face and pointed his umbrella at Dudley. A flash of light came out, and hit Dudley right on his behind. Dudley, Aunt Petunia, and Uncle Vernon all gave out a yelp. Dudley's hands flew right to his butt, where he was greeted by a curly pigs' tail.

The Dursleys were going crazy, screaming and running around. Dudley ran away out of the room with Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon close on his tail... literally. Harry and Jo were laughing hysterically, leaving Hagrid with a satisfied look.

"Well, ahem, I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone at Hogwarts about that," said Hagrid. "Strictly speaking, I'm not allowed to do magic.

"You got it," said Jo, trying to catch her breath. "That was amazing," Harry nodded in agreement.

Hagrid smiled proudly and then took out a watch. His eyes widened, "Ohh, we're bit behind schedule," he said looking between Jo and her brother. "But before we go," he started looking through his coat pockets again, "Ah, here were are."

Hagrid handed Jo an envelope. She looked down and looked at the address: Ms Potter, the floor in the Hut on the rock. Jo looked back up at Hagrid and smiled. It was another Hogwarts letter for her. "Thanks," she said and gave him a hug.

It must have taken him by surprise at first, because it took him a bit to hug back. But then Jo felt the bone crushing squeeze he gave her in return. When she let go, Hagrid's eyes were a little wet, "Best be off," he finally said, and started towards the door.

Jo and Harry watched as Hagrid ripped the door from out of its hinges and slammed it to the ground again. When he noticed the twins weren't right behind him, he turned around and said, "Unless yeh'd rather stay of course."

Jo looked over at her brother and they both smiled. There was no way they were staying. Harry took Jo's hand again, and together they followed after Hagrid. This is it, Jo thought to herself. The twins were finally getting away, finally going to a world that she and her brother had belonged to their entire lives. Finally, they were leaving and going on that adventure that Jo had spent so many nights in their cupboard at Privet drive dreaming about. Her birthday wish had come true. Their lives were about to change.


	5. Chapter 4

Instead of staying with the Dursleys any longer than the twins needed to, Hagrid took them to the nearest hotel for the rest of that evening. Therefore, the twins didn't have to sleep on the cold, hard floor at the hut on the rocks. Now they had their very own beds for the night. It felt great to Jo not to be squished next to her brother and having the space to move around. And before she knew it, she was fast asleep, still holding onto her Hogwarts letter.

Jo awoke early the next morning. She laid there for awhile with her eyes closed and sighed. What a dream, she thought. It had felt so real, but she knew it couldn't be true. Jo's been dreaming of a new life away from the Dursleys for so long now, it was almost second nature to her. She suddenly felt sad knowing that once she opened her eyes, reality would be back to face her. Then came a knock on the door. It's probably Aunt Petunia ready to yell out orders, Jo thought to herself.

When Jo opened her eyes, she had to blink a couple of times to adjust to the daylight. The curtains in the room were wide open. She yawned and then stopped midway. Wait a minute... curtains? We don't have curtains in our cupboard, she thought. Jo sat straight up, taking in her own surroundings. She then realized she was laying in a bed, by herself, without her brother. _Harry_. Jo quickly looked around to find see her brother sleeping soundly on the bed next to hers. _This isn't our cupboard at all._

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Jo quickly got out of bed, still in the clothes she wore last night and moved quietly to the door. When she opened the door, Hagrid was on the other side. Her jaw dropped. "So this really did happen," she said in amazement. _Hagrid is real. Hogwarts is real. Everything that happened last night was real._

Hagrid gave a soft chuckle. "Well of 'course it did," he said. Jo opened the door wider and moved aside, letting him pass. "Where's yeh brother?"

Once Hagrid had passed, Jo swung the door close quickly and ran over to Harry's bed. He was still sound asleep, but that was about to change. She hopped onto his bed and began jumping up and down. "Harry, wake up! Hagrid's here!"

Harry's eyes snapped open the moment Jo started jumping all over his bed. She plopped down on the bed giving a big happy sigh, "It was real, it wasn't a dream after all," she said to him as he sat up looking blindly around. "Here," Jo said quickly and reached over to the bedside table for his glasses.

"Thanks," he mumbled and put them on. Jo saw the confusion on his face as he took in the room turn to realization once his gaze landed on Hagrid.

Hagrid smiled broadly, "Now that yeh got yeh wits about yeh again, best be off. Lots ter do today. We 'ave ter buy yer school stuff."

Jo's excitement grew even more at the thought of buying her school supplies. Harry, however, knew how to pop that bubble for her. "But Hagrid," Harry said, "we haven't got any money and Uncle Vernon said he won't pay for us. How can we buy our school supplies."

Hagrid tilted his head to the side, as if Harry had asked a silly question. "Yer parents didn't leave yeh empty handed. No, don't yeh worry 'bout that one bit."

"But-" Harry began.

"That'll be our first stop. The wizard bank," said Hagrid.

"There's a wizard bank?" Jo asked in shock.

Hagrid chuckled at that. "I keep forgettin' yeh don't know anything 'bout our world. Lots ter explain ter yeh I suppose. But we better get goin', we're on a schedule yeh see."

And just like that, Hagrid and the Potters were on their way to London. Jo and Harry asking whatever questions that popped in their heads, and Hagrid doing his best to keep up with their questions, was answering them. Jo was amazed by the whole entire world and couldn't wait to set her eyes on it.

As the three were walking down a street in London, Jo took out her letter. Along with her acceptance letter, there was another letter with a list of things that the first years would have to bring to school. She looked down at her school list and began reading it out loud, "All students must be equipped with one standard size 2 pewter cauldron and may bring, if they desire, either an owl, a cat, or a toad." Jo looked up and around the London street, perplexed. "Can we find all this in London?"

Hagrid gave a devious smile, "Well, if yeh know where ter go, that is." He waved his arm and led the twins over to a corner store. Its windows and door and walls were all black. There was no sign. Jo didn't understand why Hagrid would take them to a store that looked out of use. Surely the door would be looked once Hagrid tried to open it. But that was not the case. As soon as Hagrid put a hand on the door and gave a push, it opened right open to the three.

They were greeted by loud talking and laughter, and Jo again felt her mind explode. This was going to happen all day, she thought to herself. There wasn't going to be a moment where her jaw didn't drop or her eyes didn't widen. She looked at her brother quickly, and they both shared a smile. They were standing in a pub with many people before them dressed strangely to Jo's eyes.

Hagrid led the twins towards the bar. The man behind the counter greeted Hagrid like an old friend. "Ah, Hagrid! The usual, I presume?"

"No, thanks, Tom," answered Hagrid. "I'm on official Hogwarts business. Just helping out the young Potters here buy their school supplies." Jo's excitement continue to sore. Just hearing about getting her school supplies psyched her out. She always loved school.

But the bartender didn't look as excited to hear about that as Jo felt. Instead, his eyes widen in shock as he looked between Jo and her brother. Jo was beginning to feel uncomfortable at how intense his stare was. "Bless my soul," Tom finally managed to get out. "It's Harry and Joanna Potter." The loud voices and laughter ceased at that and all eyes turned towards the Potters.

Jo gulped and shrank back in embarrassment. She remembered that Hagrid said they were famous, but she didn't know why or how, and at the time didn't really believe him. Now, with all these faces looking at her and her brother, maybe Hagrid was right, even if she didn't understand.

Finally, amongst the quiet crowd of onlookers, a man stepped forward and grabbed Harry and Jo's hands together, "Welcome Potters, welcome back!"

Then a woman came forward, shaking Jo's hand enthusiastically. "Doris Crockford, what a pleasure to meet you both. I just can't believe it!" Jo nodded quickly, not knowing what to say back.

Then a man with a purple turban around his head stepped forward and stuttered, "P-P-Potters! C-can't tell you how please I am to meet you."

"Hello, Professor," said Hagrid. "I didn't see you there." Hagrid looked to the Potters and added, "This is Professor Quirrel, yer Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts."

"Oh," said Harry quickly, extending his hand, "Nice to meet you."

Professor Quirrel took a step backwards, away from Harry's hand. Jo thought it was odd, but didn't really think more into it. "F-fearfully fascinating subject," Professor Quirrel said, "N-not that either of y-you n-need it."

"Yes, well we must be going now," Hagrid said loudly, "lots to buy."

"Good-bye," Jo and Harry said together to Professor Quirrel, who nodded. What a strange man, Jo thought to herself as Hagrid led the way through the bar. The loud talking and laughter from earlier resumed with a little more excitement this time.

Hagrid took the twins to the back of the bar and through a door that led to a back alley way, four brick walls on all sides. Hagrid walking straight to the back said, "See, yeh two, yer famous!"

"But why?" asked Jo curiously. "How does everyone know who we are?"

Hagrid turned around to look at the twins, "I'm not sure if I'm exactly the right person to tell yeh two this." Then he turned back to the wall and lifted his umbrella and Jo knew something amazing was about to happen. Harry was about to ask another question, but Jo hushed him. She told him it can wait as Hagrid began tapping random bricks with his umbrella.

All of a sudden, the bricks began to move into each other, creating a hole in the wall. And the hole got bigger, bigger, and bigger. And as it grew, Jo could see what was hidden behind the wall. Within seconds, the brick wall became an archway and Harry and Jo stood there with their mouths open again. Before them was a cobble stone road with stores on either side. Witches and wizards were walking to and fro, wearing robes and pointed hats, and Jo was instantly mesmerized by it all.

"Welcome, Harry, JoJo, to Diagon Alley," said Hagrid.

Jo and Harry shared a big smile with each other before walking forward and into Diagon Alley. Jo was so amazed at the sight before her. She didn't know where to look. Her head was turning in all sorts of directions. Aide from the stores catching her eyes, with their odd names, the people walking around really got her attention by their outfits. Again Jo felt disbelief at what was happening to her and Harry. She reached over and pinched Harry on the cheek.

"Ouch!" said Harry, rubbing his cheek instantly with his hand. "What was that for?" He narrowed his eyes at Jo.

"Just checking to make sure this is really happening," said Jo brightly.

"Couldn't have pinched yourself, could you?" muttered Harry.

As they continued walking down further into Diagon Alley, Hagrid was pointing out the different stores to the twins. "Here's where yeh get yer quills and ink," said Hagrid pointing to one store. "And over there, all yer bits and bobs for doing yer wizardry and witchcraft," as he pointed to another store. Jo had no words. She jut nodded excitedly at everything Hagrid was telling the twins.

As they walked passed another store, there was a group of kids around Jo and Harry's age all with their nose pressed against the glass, looking at awe at broomsticks, which Jo thought was strange.

"It's award-class racing broom," said one kid.

"Wow, look at it! The new nimbus 2000," said another.

"It's the fastest model yet!"

Finally, Hagrid brought the twins to a large white marble building, the biggest of all the stores in Diagon Alley. "And there's yer money," Hagrid said, pointing to the building. "Gringotts-the wizard bank. Ain't no safer place, not one. Except perhaps Hogwarts." The twins stopped and stared at the building in awe before Hagrid ushered them inside.

The inside was beautiful! High ceilings with glass chandeliers, marble floors and walls. Jo had never seen a building like this before. Walking around and sitting on high stools behind counters were- A little gasp escaped Jo's mouth before she could stop herself. "Hagrid," she said very quietly, "what are they?"

"They're goblins, JoJo," said Hagrid very seriously. "Clever as they come, goblins, but not the most friendly of beasts. Better stay close." Both Jo and Harry inched closer to Hagrid. They continued walking down the marble hall to the end, passing goblin after goblin. Jo kept her eyes down. The goblins were making her feel uncomfortable with their cold stare.

When they reached the last counter, Hagrid greeted the goblin sitting there. He cleared his throat and said, "Hello. The Potters wish to make a withdrawal from their vault."

Jo looked up just in time. The goblin put down his quill and leaned over the counter, looking down at Jo and Harry. "And do Mr. and Miss Potter have their key?"

Jo gulped. Key? What key? They didn't have a key.

"Oh, wait a minute," said Hagrid suddenly. "Got it here somewhere." He began rummaging through his many pockets for a moment before pulling out a small gold key. "HA! There's the little devil." He placed the key on top of the counter. "Oh, and there's something else as well..." Hagrid pulled out an envelop from inside his coat, "Professor Dumbledore gave me this. It's about you-know-what, in vault you-know-which." He gave a sideways look at the twins.

Jo had no idea what Hagrid was talking about and looked at her brother. He shrugged back with his confusion. At least Jo wasn't the only one not understanding what was going on. She watched the goblin as he read through the letter very seriously. The goblin looked back at Hagrid and simply said, "Very well." And that was that.

Another goblin then came and greeted Jo and the others, taking them through one of the many doorways leading away from the lobby. It was a dark tunnel and Jo didn't know what to expect. She knew they were descending deeper and deeper into the earth as the tunnel began to get narrower and narrower. Finally, they made it to the end of the tunnel to an opening with railway tracks and a small wagon. The goblin told them to get inside and then they were off racing down the track.

A little scream escaped Jo as they turned quickly this way and that, zooming down the tracks further and further down. The walls were whizzing by and Jo began to feel herself get nauseous so she closed her eyes.

And then they came to an abrupt stop. "Vault 687," said the goblin. He stepped out of the cart. "Lamp please," he said, and Hagrid handed him the lamp. The goblin took the lamp and turned around, walking towards a door a steel door embedded into the rock wall.

Jo got out of the wagon and bent over her knees. "You alright JoJo," Harry chuckled.

"Mmmhmm," Jo said back, trying to keep herself from throwing up. She considered that her first rollercoaster ride and knew she never wanted to do something like that again.

"Key please," Jo heard the goblin say. She was still bent over her knees, the feeling of her about to vomit was slowly going away. Suddenly, she felt Harry pulling on her sleeve, "Jo," he said, as if he was out of breath, "look!"

Jo looked up just in time as the goblin accompanying them was at a big door in the stone wall with their golden key out. He put the key in the lock, unlocking the door. It creaked loudly as it opened slowly. Jo's draw dropped and somehow she managed to get out, "Oh. My. God." Before the Pottes in the vault were piles and piles of gold, with some silver, and little bronze coins.

Hagrid laughed at the twins' face. "What, did you think your parents left you with nothing?"

Jo didn't know what to think her mind moving a mile a minute. How did her parents have so much money? What did they do? Where'd they get it from? Question after question popped into her head. She looked over at Harry who was shaking his head in disbelief.

Hagrid helped both Potters place money into their own little bags. As soon as they took enough for the two of them, Hagrid turned to the goblin and said, "Now off to vault 713, please." Jo whispered to Harry, "Is that the secret vault?" Harry nodded back and said, "Sounds like it."

The goblin walked back over to the wagon on the track and Jo felt herself get sick again. "We have to go back on that thing?" she said. Harry laughed. "Come on, you big baby."

Finally, after another grueling ride for Jo, they made it to the mysterious vault 713. The goblin led the three in front of the vault, "Vault 713."

"What's in there, Hagrid?" Jo asked curiously. What was so secret about this vault?

"Can't tell you that, JoJo," said Hagrid, "Hogwarts business, very secret."

"Stand back, please," the goblin said once they stood in front of the vault. Unlike the Potter's vault, this one had no keyhole. The goblin pointed a finger at the middle of the door and moved it down to the bottom of the door. Jo could hear clicking sounds coming from behind the door. Then it opened slowly towards them. Jo sucked in a breath, not knowing what to expect on the other side of the door. And then...

"That?" said Jo incredulously. "That's what's so secret?" All that was inside the vault was a very tiny package that Hagrid picked up very carefully and placed inside his coat. How could something that small be so important, Jo wondered.

Hagrid looked at the twins very seriously, "Best not to mention this to anyone you two." Both Harry and Jo nodded, Jo still so confused about the whole situation, couldn't imagine why she'd tell anyone about this anyway. She had no idea what she would tell them in the first place.

Before Jo knew it, she and her brother and Hagrid were back outside in the blinding light. She and Harry were clutching tightly to their bags of money. "Well then," said Hagrid, as they walked down the steps of Gringotts back into the heart of Diagon Alley, "Time to buy yer school supplies I suppose." Jo and Harry looked at each other excitedly, not knowing where to go to next. This was turning out to be the best day ever, Jo thought, with a huge smile on her face.


	6. Chapter 5

Jo was still having a hard time processing everything that was happening to her and her brother. For years she dreamed of a better life for the two of them, to belong somewhere, to be with other people who didn't treat them like trash. And here they were, in a new world with a giant of a man, money in her pockets, in a street filled with happy and smiling witches and wizards all dressed in strange outfits. And even though this was all new for her, Jo felt a strange sensation from this world, like she had been apart of it her entire life, this was the piece of Jo that had been missing and now she has it.

"What do you think, JoJo?"

Jo snapped out of her thoughts, "Huh? I'm sorry I wasn't listening."

"Hagrid thinks we should get our uniforms first," Harry said. You could hear the excitement in his voice. Jo nodded in agreement, it was a good start.

Hagrid pointed the twins in the right direction, "Now you two go on right in Madam Malkin's, she'll fix you right up. I'm going to get some things in Knockturn Alley, dodgy place, no place for you two." And then Jo and Harry were alone in their new world, entering the robe shop together.

There was a small, squat woman off to the side of the store. She smiled brightly when she saw the twins entering the store. That had to be Madam Malkin, Jo thought, returning a smile to the witch.

"Hogwarts, I presume?" She asked, putting her one arm over Jo and the other over Harry. She steered them over to some footstools in front of the mirrors. "I've been seeing the lot of you around here now. There's another young man here as well being fitted."

Jo and Harry were now standing on either side of a boy with pale blonde hair. Jo gave him a smile as Madam Malkin placed a rob over her head and began pinning it at places. "Hello," Jo said, she thought it would be nice to start making some friends, "So you're going to Hogwarts, too?"

"Yeah," said the boy in a bored voice. "Mother and father are getting my supplies for me while I'm here." He sighed in annoyance, like he was too good to be here getting his school robes. Jo was beginning to wonder why she had started a conversation with this boy. "I think I'll have them buy me a broom as well, even though first years aren't allowed. Stupid rule in my opinion." Jo made eye contact with Harry and she knew he was thinking the same thing. This boy was just another version of their cousin Dudley, and she knew she would want to have nothing to do with him at school.

"What about you," the boy said, turning to Harry. "Have you got a broom?"

"Oh," said Harry, surprised at being addressed. "No..."

"So you don't play Quidditch?" asked the boy.

Quidditch, Jo thought, what is that? She thought about asking the boy to explain it, but she had the feeling that this was the wrong person to ask such a thing. Maybe she'd better wait and ask Hagrid instead.

"No," Harry answered.

"Well I do and Father says I will make the team for sure, and I agree," bragged the boy. Jo was disliking him more and more by the moment. "What about your House? I suppose you don't know what you'll be in, no really every does."

House, Jo thought. What in the world was this boy talking about. Are we supposed to live in homes at this school?

"My entire family has been in Slytherin so I know that's where I'll be. I'd probably leave if I were in Hufflepuff, wouldn't you?" The boy then gasped as he was looking out the window. "Look at that man!"

Jo turned her head towards the windows and smiled. "Oh, that's just Hagrid," she said, waving to him. Hagrid tried to wave back while holding 3 ice cream cones. It didn't end well for the ice cream cones. "He works at Hogwarts," Jo added, when the boy looked confused.

"Oh, the servant, right?" the boy said, nodding.

"He's the gamekeeper," Harry said quickly. Jo could tell that Harry wasn't a big fan of this boy either, both of them disliking him more and more by the second.

"Same thing, isn't it?" the boy waved a hand.

How ignorant, Jo thought. "No, it's not. And Hagrid's brilliant," said Jo, glaring at the boy.

If he saw her glare, he simply ignored it. "And why is he with you two then," the boy asked with a slight sneer. "Don't you have parents?"

"They're dead," said Harry shortly.

"Sorry to hear that," said the boy. Jo seriously doubted that. "And there were our kind, weren't they?"

"If you're asking if they were a witch and wizard," began Jo coldly, "then yes, they were."

"Well that's good. They shouldn't be bringing other kinds into our world," the boy said, hopping down from the footstool. His robes were all finished and Jo couldn't be any happier. She wanted nothing more to do with this boy and the sooner he was gone, the better.

"What's your last name anyway?" the boy turned to Harry.

Behind the boys back, Jo was shaking her head frantically at her brother. No, don't tell him who we are Harry, she thought furiously.

"Here you are," said the witch who was working on the boys robes, "you're all done." She handed him a bag filled with Hogwarts robes. Perfect timing to not answer him. "See you at Hogwarts," was all the boy said, and then he left the twins alone to be fitted. Jo seriously hoped they wouldn't be put in the same house, or whatever he was talking about.

The next store they went in was the book store, Flourish and Blotts. Jo was mesmerized by how many books there were in the store with all the different strange titles. Jo had always loved books and reading and she couldn't wait to open them up and read through every single one of them. Harry had to drag her out of the store when they bought all the books for the first years.

"It's starting to get late," Hagrid said as they were back out on the street of Diagon Alley looking down at his watch. "You two go on and get your wands from Ollivanders, and I'll get the rest of your school supplies." The twins agreed and walked up the road to Ollivanders.

Before they walked into the store, Jo stopped Harry, her hand on his arm.

"What?" he asked, looking down at himself quickly. "What's wrong with me?"

"Harry," Jo said quietly, but in an excited tone. "We're about to go and buy our very own wands so that we can do magic." A smile was creeping up on her face. "How cool is that? Can we just take a moment."

Harry laughed, "Yeah, it's pretty cool. I still can't believe all of this is happening."

Jo let out a happy sigh, that smile stuck to her face, "Alright, lets do this."

The twins walked into Ollivanders. There was little light in the store. Jo's eyes scanned the walls with shelves from the bottom of the floor to the ceiling filled with small boxes. The wands, Jo thought excitedly. One of those was going to be hers. With there being so many, Jo wondered how they'd have enough time to find her own wand.

"Hello?" Harry asked nervously when they walked up to the counter and no one was around. Suddenly, a very old man appeared, Mr. Ollivander. He was on top of a ladder that skidded to a halt in front of the twins. They both jumped back in surprise. He looked down at the twins with curious eyes.

"Ah yes," he said. "I wondered when I would be seeing the Potter twins, and here you are." He climbed down from the ladder and began searching through a few boxes of wands straight away. "It seems only yesterday that your mother and father were in here buying their first wands." He pulled out a long thin box and hurried over to the twins. Jo suddenly felt herself become very nervous. She knew no spells whatsoever, how was she suppose to handle a wand already.

"Lets start with you, my dear," said Ollivander, opening the box and pulling out a wand. Jo felt herself take a big gulp as she reached out a shaky hand and took the wand from Mr. Ollivander. The wand felt cool to the touch as her hand went around the handle. She held it in awe, and then looked up at Ollivander ready for instructions.

"Well give it a wave dear girl," he said, as if she should have known what to do once she held the wand.

"Oh, right," Jo said quickly. She turned to side, took a deep breath, and waved the wand. The ladder, which had been where her wand was pointing, shattered and fell to the floor. Jo looked at Harry quickly, her eyes wide in shock. "Sorry," she said awkwardly to Ollivander, "I don't think that's the one."

Mr. Ollivander gave a chuckle, "No, it is not." Then he got very serious. "I do have a wand that might be the one for you..." And he turned on the spot and disappeared within the shelves all the way to the back and behind a door.

Jo placed the wand in her hand back into the box on the counter. Then she turned to her brother, who was staring at the ladder on the floor. "I'm impressed," he said, nodding his head. "Didn't know you had that in you."

Jo laughed, "I didn't even know I could do that!"

"Here we are," said Mr. Ollivander, making Jo jump. He always had a way of disappearing and reappearing so quickly, it sort of freaked Jo out.

"This here is a very special wand," said Mr. Ollivander as he opened a second box right in front of Jo. She looked down at it and felt strange, like a sense of ownership over the wand. She couldn't explain it, but just by staring at the wand, she already felt a connection. Mr. Ollivander had been watching Jo curisouly, "Ah, yes, you feel it, don't you? That energy." Jo nodded slowly, still looking at the wand. It was if it was calling to her.

Jo took a deep breath and took the wand in her right hand. Somehow, her hand was firm and steady, unlike when she took ahold of the first wand. Jo felt a warm sensation wash over her as the wand began making sparks fly out the tip. She didn't know how to explain it, but it just felt right holding that wand in her hand.

"Oh, excellent! Very good," said Mr. Ollivander happily. "How about that."

"What was that?" Jo asked looking down at the wand.

"The wand chooses the wizard, Ms. Potter. That wand has chosen you," said Mr. Ollivander. He held the box up and Jo placed it back inside hesitantly. She didn't want to let go of it.

"Let me tell you a bit more about that wand," Mr. Ollivander said, putting Jo's wand on the counter and then he began searching for a wand for Harry. "Ten and a quarter inches long, made of willow. Swishy, containing one dragon heartstring. It's a very powerful wand, very good with charms. Its the wand that once belonged to your mother, Lily."

"My-my mother?" Jo asked in shock.

"Yes, your mother." Mr. Ollivander walked over to Harry with a box containing a wand. Harry gave it a swoosh and an entire shelf of wands fell to the floor.

"No, definitely not that one," Mr. Ollivander said and he took the wand from Harry's hand quickly. "Your mother's wand was returned to me after the events that occurred that night. I've held on to it all these years, waiting for you and your brother to arrive, hoping that it would give its allegiance to either of you. And it did of course, giving you its full allegiance. You look very much like your mother, perhaps you have her same spirit as well."

"Wow," was all Jo could say. She couldn't believe that the wand she now owned was in fact her mother's very wand. She now had a piece of mother with her and couldn't help but feel emotional about it. She looked at the box on the counter in which her mother's wand- her wand sat. She knew then and there that it was something very special, and she would treasure it forever. Jo wished she was still holding it now, but it was Harry's turn for his wand.

Mr. Ollivander had given Harry another wand that turned out to be a complete disaster as well. He disappeared again and Harry looked so hopeless. "Don't worry, Harry," Jo said encouraging, "this one is definitely the one, just wait!"

Ollivander came back out to the twins, holding yet another box containing a wand. His eyes looked distant, far away, as he approached Harry. "I wonder..." was all he said as he took the wand out and handed it to Harry.

Jo watched as her brother took a deep breath and took the wand with a steady hand. And just like Jo, Harry's wand began to spark and glow in his hands, a light wind was blowing throughout the store, yet all the windows were closed. Harry finally had his own wand.

"Yikes!" said Mr. Ollivander, looking around, "curious, very curious."

"Sorry," said Harry, "but what's curious?"

"I remember every wand I ever sold, Mr. Potter," Mr. Ollivander said, taking the wand from Harry. " It so happens that the phoenix who's tail feather resides in your wand gave another feather. Just one other. It is curious that you should be destained for this wand, when its brother gave you that scar." He pointed to Harry's lightning bolt scar on his forehead. "You, Miss Potter, escaped unscathed."

Jo swallowed and asked, "And who owned that wand?"

Mr. Ollivander had a very serious look on his face, "Ohh, we do not speak his name. As I said, the wand chooses the wizard, Miss Potter. It's not always clear why." He turned to Harry and added, "But I think it is clear that we can expect great things from you, the both of you. After all, he-who-must-not-be-named did great things. Terrible, yes, but great."

Jo was lost in thought again when they left the wand shop. He-who-must-not-be named gave Harry that scar. So he's the one who killed our parents, Jo thought, and shivered at the thought. How was it that Harry had a scar and she didn't. Why did she live and her parents did not?

"You alright, JoJo," Hagrid asked, as they sat at the train station after buying their supples. They were to return back to the Dursleys for the remainder of the summer, "You seem very quiet."

Jo looked over at Harry. She knew he knew what was bothering her. Being the best brother that he is, he decided to ask Hagrid for her. "He killed our parents, didn't he?" Harry asked, "The one who gave me this?" Then he pointed to his scar.

Hagrid's face turned somber. "We know you know, Hagrid," Jo said quietly.

Hagrid sighed heavily and looked at the twins very seriously. "First, what you have to understand is because it's very important. Not all wizards are good, some of them go bad. A few years ago, there was one wizard who went as bad as you can go. And his name was Vol-" Hagrid shook his head and tried again. "His name was Vol-" again he came up short.

"What if you write it down," Jo suggested.

"No I can't spell it," said Hagrid, waving a hand. "Okay," he whispered quietly that both Jo and Harry had to move in to hear him. "Voldemort."

"Voldemort?" Harry repeated loudly.

"Shhhh" said Hagrid, looking around frantically. Jo couldn't understand why, nobody was around. He took another breath, "It was dark times you two, very dark times. Voldemort started to gather some followers. Brought them over to the dark side. Anyone that stood up to him ended up dead. Your parents fought against him. But nobody lived once he decided to kill them. Nobody, not one, except you two."

"Us?" said Harry in disbelief. Jo felt the same way. How could babies survive a dark wizard and their parents, a skilled witch and wizard, not? It didn't any sense. "Voldemort tried to kill us?" said Jo, still not understanding.

"Yes," said Hagrid, nodding his head. "And that aint not ordinary cut," he added, pointing to Harry's scar. "A mark like that only comes from being touched by a curse, and an evil curse at that."

"What happened to you-know-who-?" asked Harry.

"Well, some said he died, I don't believe that one bit. Nope. I reckon he's out there still, too tired to carry on," said Hagrid. "But one things absolutely certain. Something about you two stopped him that night. That's why you're famous. That's why everyone knows your name... You're the twins who lived."

Jo's mind again was all over the place. Ever since she found out she was a witch, it hasn't stopped thinking of a million different things. After everything she had learned today, she didn't know how many more surprises her brain could handle. But she had the feeling it was going to happen a lot more, especially once she's at Hogwarts.

"Hagrid?" Jo asked after a moment. "Can I ask you another question?" Hagrid looked nervous for a second before nodding. "I've been wondering, but what's Quidditch?" Jo thought back to the boy in Madam Malkin's and that conversation. Hagrid gave a chuckle, happy to be talking about something else. He tried explaining the rules to Jo and Harry, but Jo felt herself become even more confused.

Time passed as Harry and Jo asked more questions about the wizarding world as they waited for the train to take them back to the Dursleys. Even though it was only a month, Jo wasn't too thrilled to be returning back to Privet Drive. At one point Hagrid even surprised the twins with another birthday present, a snowy white owl. Jo thought she was the most beautiful creature she had ever seen. The twins couldn't stop thanking Hagrid enough for everything he had done for them.

The train finally arrived and Hagrid helped the twins on the train with all their bags for school. "Ah, I almost forgot." He reached into his pockets and pulled out another envelope. "Those are your tickets for the Hogwarts Express," he said, and handed it to Jo. "Don't lose them!" Jo nodded and put the envelope in her pocket.

Hagrid looked at the twins with a small smile on his face. "I'll be seeing ya soon, don't you worry." And just like that, the twins were on their way back to Privet Drive. Everything that happened over the past two days replaying over and over in Jo's mind. She couldn't wait for it to be September 1st.

* * *

Hey everyone! Thanks for reading! Just wanted to let you know that I made a twitter account for this story where you can follow and get updates and direct message me, things like that. I think its easier to receive messages there. Anyways, thanks again for reading and for the reviews. Hang tight, we got a long ways to go (: lmf121

Twitter account: lmf121_fanfic


	7. Chapter 6

The last month with the Dursleys, surprisingly to Jo, wasn't absolutely horrible. In fact, it was bit of an improvement to say the least. Every single time Jo or Harry walked into a room in which Dudley was in, he'd run out so quickly, petrified of the twins. Dudley's encounter with Hagrid and the pig's tail was still fresh in his mind and seeing the twins didn't help him. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia completely ignored them, which Jo had no problem with whatsoever. They were never much for conversation, so this didn't bother her in the least. The biggest improvement of them all was that the Dursley's no longer forced the twins in that small cupboard under the stairs. Now, the twins each had a bed in Dudley's second bedroom. Granted, their mattresses were on the floor, but still it was so much nicer for both Jo and Harry to have their own space.

Jo and Harry mostly stayed in their room, ignoring the Dursleys right back, and they were okay with that because at least they had each others' company and the company of their snowy owl. Harry was the one to name her Hedwig, finding the name in one of their school books. The two had been going through all their books to pass the time. Jo found them all interesting, especially potions. She was really looking forward to her first day of classes, now that she was beginning to familiarize herself with spells and charms and ingredients.

It was the last night of August and Jo was laying on her stomach ontop of her bed reading through her potions book a second time while eating crackers. Hedwig was perched on top of her shoulder and after a couple bites of a cracker, Jo would feed the rest to Hedwig. Harry came into their room and closed the door quickly behind him.

"Well?" Jo asked, not looking up from her book, "how'd it go?"

"He said he'd take us."

Jo jumped up so suddenly, taking Hedwig off guard. She hooted angrily and flew across the room to Harry as he sat down on his own bed. "He said yes?" Jo said in disbelief.

Harry nodded. "Yeah. But I honestly think he just wants to dump us there because he said platform 9 and 3 quarters doesn't exist."

"Well, it must exist if that's what our tickets tell us," said Jo. Anything was possible to her at this point. She learned that an entire wizarding world had always existed, a world she was a part of. You could tell her anything and she'd believe it now. She had an open mind.

"I can't believe tomorrows the day," said Harry, and he marked off the last day of August on their calendar in the room.

Jo nodded in agreement, "We better get some sleep," she said. She opened their window so that Hedwig could go out to hunt one last time before their big day. Hedwig hooted happily and flew right on out. Jo then returned to her bed and switched off the light. "Good night, Harry," Jo whispered.

"Night, JoJo."

Jo sighed as she laid down on her bed, staring up at the dark ceiling. She had a feeling she probably wouldn't be able to sleep that night, since her thoughts were constantly on Hogwarts. But when sleep finally did hit her, she dreamed of dragons and goblins and witches and wizards.

Jo woke up the next morning as the same time as the sun and she knew she wouldn't be able to fall back asleep. Instead, she got dressed for the day and went over her entire Hogwarts list, checking to make sure she had everything for the 12th time. She even made sure that Harry had all of his things as well. Hedwig finally returned, and Jo made sure she was back in her cage safe and sound with a few extra treats.

Finally, it was time to leave. The Potters loaded their trunks into the Dursleys car and then they were off to King's Cross Station in London. Jo's excitement was through the roof. She kept tapping her leg from nerves and excitement during the entire car ride to the train station. The Dursleys still ignored the Potters, but Jo had the feeling that Uncle Vernon was very delighted. Maybe he was just happy to finally get rid of the twins, even if it meant they were going to learn magic, something he despised most.

It was 10:30 in the morning when they finally arrived at King's Cross. Uncle Vernon went as far as to carry Jo's trunk for her, which Jo thought that was rather odd. He hated her, yet he was being polite and carrying her trunk for her. It wasn't until they entered the station that she discovered why.

Uncle Vernon turned to Harry and said, "I told you, boy, that there was no platform 9 and 3 quarters. There's 9 and there's 10 and that's it."

"Oh, it's here," Jo said with determination. She wasn't going to let Uncle Vernon take away her moment. "Just you wait." Jo thought she saw a little hint of a smile on Aunt Petunia's face, but she blinked and it disappeared as quickly as it came. Jo figured she was just imagining things.

"I don't intend on waiting," sneered Uncle Vernon. "Have a good term." And with that he, Aunt Petunia, and Dudley left the Potters all alone in King's Cross station.

"What did I tell you?" muttered Harry, picking up his trunk and Hedwig. "He just wanted to dump us."

Jo shook her head. "It's got to be here somewhere." She looked down at her gold Hogwarts ticket that clearly read 'Hogwarts Express: Platforms 9 and 3 quarters.' "It wouldn't say this if it wasn't real, Harry. I mean, think about how Diagon Alley appeared behind a stone wall. 9 and 3 quarters is here somewhere, we just need to find it. Come on." At the same time, Jo also wondered why Hagrid never gave them instructions.

"Okay," said Harry, taking his sister's lead.

They had only been waking around for a few minutes when Jo realized that the other people in the station were looking at the twins curiously. Probably because they were just two kids with trunks and an owl and no parents. Jo figured they'd have to ask someone real soon before they made even more of a scene and 11 o'clock was approaching quickly. Jo didn't want to miss the train.

She walked over to the nearest guard. "Excuse me," she said politely, "Could you tell us were we might find platform 9 and 3 quarters?"

The guard looked at her strangely, "9 and 3 quarters? Think you're being funny, do you?" And he walked away before Jo could say another word.

"Well, that was rude," said Jo. "Maybe we should just-"

Harry grabbed Jo's arm, "Wait, did you hear that?" That woman just said platform 9 and 3 quarters! Let's follow her." Harry led Jo to an entire family of redheads. There was the mother, holding hands with her daughter, and then four sons following behind them, all with the same flaming red hair. And, all of them had the same trunk as Jo and Harry. Wizards, Jo thought excitedly.

She and Harry followed a few paces behind so not to be noticed as they watched the family before them.

"Alright, Percy. You first," said the mother. The oldest of the boys stepped forward. He took a deep breath and then started running towards the barrier between platforms 9 and 10. Jo cringed as he got closer, just waiting for the crash. But it never came. The boy disappeared within the barrier and not one passerby noticed anything that just happened. Jo and Harry looked at each other in amazement. Magic never ceased to amaze the two.

The mother turned back to the boys, "Fred, you next."

"He's not Fred, I am!" said one of the boys.

"Honestly, woman, you call yourself our mother," finished the other boy.

Jo then realized that they were indeed twins, identical ones to be exact.

"Oh, I'm sorry George," said their mother.

One of the twins stepped forward, the other one right behind him. The first one said to his mother, "I'm only joking, I am Fred." And then he took off quickly towards the barrier with his twin brother on his heels, avoiding his mother's reaching hand and disappearing within the wall. Jo gave a little giggle.

"Do you think we should ask?" said Harry, and Jo nodded and followed her brother closer to the woman.

"Excuse me," said Harry, "We were just wondering if maybe you could, umm, if you could..."

The woman smiled at the twins happily, "Show you how to get on the platform?" she asked. Harry and Jo nodded quickly. "Not to worry, dears. It's Ron's first time to Hogwarts as well." she said, pointing to her youngest son who gave them a small smile. "Right," continued the mother. "Now, all you've got to do is walk straight at the wall between platforms 9 and 10. Best do it at a bit of a run if you're nervous."

"Good luck," said the young girl.

Harry nodded and took the lead. Jo felt so nervous, she could feel her legs shaking a bit. Running at a wall at full speed did not seem like a very good idea. She watched as Harry took a deep breath and began to run towards the wall. Come on, Harry, Jo thought watching him with wide eyes. And then he disappeared just like the others.

Jo's mouth dropped open and the mother laughed beside her. "Your turn now, sweetie," she said, giving Jo an encouraging smile.

Well, here goes nothing, Jo thought and she started to jog towards the barrier, picking up speed. The wall got closer and closer and right when Jo was on top of it, she closed her eyes quickly, trying to embrace for impact. But it never game and she opened eyes quickly.

She no longer stood in King's Cross Station. Harry stood right in front of her with a huge smile on his face, and behind him, with white smoke was blowing all around, was a train: the Hogwarts Express. They made it to platform 9 and 3 quarters. Jo looked at her brother, returning his smile. They did it!

"Take that, Uncle Vernon," she said and Harry laughed.

A whistle sounded from the train and Jo and Harry pushed their way together through the crowds saying goodbye to their families, pushing passed more trunks and owls and cats. Jo was amazed at everything she was seeing, it was like Diagon Alley all over for her again, not knowing what to look at first.

They made it onto the train with their heavy trunks in toe. Harry finally found an empty compartment for the two of them, all the way near the end of the train. He went in first, placing Hedwig on the rack above the seats, then he turned to his trunk, trying to lift that as well. After struggling a bit, Jo tried helping him, but between the two of them, they couldn't get the trunk over their heads.

"Need some help?" It was one of the red headed twins.

"Oh my god, yes, please," Jo panted. The boy called for his brother who appeared within seconds. And between the four of them, they managed to get both trunks up the racks.

"Thanks," said an out of breath Jo. Harry nodded his thanks and pushing his sweaty hair out of his eyes.

"No way!" said one twin. "You can't be-"

"But he is," said the other twin.

"Then that must mean-." said the first twin, looking at Jo.

"She is," replied the second twin.

Jo and Harry looked at each other in confusion. They may be twins too, but they hardly ever talked like these two in front of them. Jo had no idea what just happened. "What?" she finally managed to say.

"You're Harry and Joanna Potter!" the twins exclaimed.

"Oh," said Harry awkwardly, not ready for that, "Yeah I guess we are."

The twins gawked at Jo and Harry and Jo was starting to feel uncomfortable. Then she heard their mother yell, "Fred? George? Come say goodbye!" And then they disappeared.

"That was weird, wasn't it?" asked Jo, plopping down on one of the seats.

Harry nodded, starring down at the family of redheads from the window half hidden. "Do you think its going to be like that from now on? People just staring at us all the time?"

"Thank god I don't have a scar on my forehead to give us away," Jo joked, but Harry didn't find it funny. She sighed, "Sorry, Harry. But probably. Hagrid said we're famous because we defeated a super dark wizard as babies. All these kids grew up knowing our names and now they're seeing us for the first time. So yeah, they're going to stare. But it's nothing we can't handle, people stared at us all the time back home because they knew we were Dudley's cousin. We'll be fine."

The train whistled loudly and then began pulling slowly out of the station. Harry's mood brighten at that. Both he and Jo moved closer to window watching the families wave goodbye to their kids. Jo felt a little down about not waving back excitedly to anyone on the station, but as she watched Harry's excited smile return to his face, she knew everything would be okay as long as she had him in her life. The train moved faster and faster and the twins watched as King's Cross Station disappeared and there was nothing but blue skies and open fields surrounding them. So long, London.

There was a knock on the compartment door and it slid open slowly to reveal the youngest brother of that red headed family. He looked nervously between Jo and Harry. "Excuse me?" he asked shyly, " Do you mind? Everywhere else is full."

"Not at all," said Harry, motioning for the boy to join them. Jo smiled at him as he sat down.

"Hey, Ron," it was the twins at the door. "You okay here? We're going to go sit with Lee."

"Okay," mumbled Ron.

"Harry, Joanna" said the other twin, "We didn't introduce ourselves, did we? I'm Fred-"

"And I'm George," finished the other twin.

"And this is Ron," they said together, "Our brother. We're the Weasleys."

"Hello," said Jo and Harry together, "And please," added Jo politely, "Call me Jo or JoJo. Whichever."

"You got it, JoJo," said George while Fred winked at her. And then they disappeared.

As soon as they left, Ron said excitedly, "So it's true then? I thought they were just messing around with me," he looked between Jo and Harry and then asked her brother, "I mean, do you really have the-the-"

"The what?" asked Harry, not following.

"I think he means the scar, Harry," said Jo. Ron nodded.

"Oh, yeah," said Harry, and he lifted his hair away from his forehead for Ron to see his scar.

Ron's eyes widen, "Wicked."

"So is your entire family wizards?" Jo asked Ron curiously.

"Yeah, as far as I know," said Ron.

"You already know a lot of magic then, don't you?" she said.

Ron shrugged, "Sure, I guess. I heard you two grew up with Muggles."

Jo sighed, "Let's not talk about them, please."

"How many brothers do you have?" asked Harry, joining the conversation.

"Five," said Ron. "I'm the sixth one to go Hogwarts. Have a lot to live up to I guess you could say."

"Wow," said Jo, impressed, "And that was your little sister at the train station?"

"Yeah, she'll be here next year," said Ron.

"It's just us," Jo said, punching Harry lightly, "But you and everyone else already know that, don't you?" Ron laughed at that.

A knock came at the door. The door was pulled back by an older woman with a cart filled with what Jo thought had to be wizard candy and treats. "Anything from the trolley, dears?" the old woman asked politely, smiling at the three of them.

Ron all of sudden looked gloomy, "No, thanks," he said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a squished sandwich. "I'm all set."

Just then Jo's stomach made a noise. She just realized neither she or Harry had eaten anything since the day before. Harry pulled out a couple of gold galleons, "We'll take three of each," he said.

"Whoa," said Ron, clearly impressed by the money.

Moments later, the three were digging through a pile of sweats. Jo was curious about everything, reading every label, trying to memorize all the candy names. She picked up a little box and read the title out loud, "Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans?"

"They mean every flavor," said Ron, filling the twins in on all the different snacks. "There's chocolate and peppermint, and there's also spinach, liver, and tripe." Jo made a disgusted face and Ron added, "George swears he got a boogy-flavored one once." And with that Jo placed the box back down. She wasn't feeling that adventurous at the moment.

"These aren't real frogs are they?" asked Harry, holding up a chocolate frog box.

Ron shook his head, "It's just a spell. Besides its the card you want. Each pack's got a famous witch or wizard. I've got about 500 meself."

"500?" asked Jo in awe. Ron nodded proudly.

Just as Harry opened the package, a chocolate frog jumped out and landed on the window, making Jo jump.

"Watch it!" exclaimed Ron. The three watched as the chocolate frog jumped up the window of their compartment, then jumping out. Jo laughed.

"Oh, that's rotten luck," said Ron, "They've only got one good jump in them to begin with."

Harry looked down at the card and exclaimed, "I've got Dumbledore!"

"I've got about six of him!" said Ron, eating away.

"Wait, I want to see him," said Jo quickly, taking the card out of Harry's hand. She wanted to see what this Dumbledore looked like. Hagrid spoke so highly of him, surely he was a great wizard. But when she looked down at the card, nothing was there. "He's gone," she said, disappointed.

"Well, you can't expect him to hang around all day, can you?" asked Ron.

Jo read the back of the card talking about Dumbledore's life and his accomplishments. Just then, something furry came crawling out of his pocket. A rat. Jo squealed when she saw it, moving far away. "Ron, why do you have a rat in your pocket?"

"Oh, it's just Scabbers," Ron said, looking down at him in disgust as the rat began eating some beans. "Pathetic, isn't he?"

"Just a little bit," agreed Harry with a laugh.

"Fred gave me a spell as to turn him yellow. Want to see?" asked Ron.

"You can do a spell?" asked Jo, impressed with Ron. She guessed growing up in a wizard family had an advantage. She was beginning to worry about going to school now. She hadn't really thought about it before, but she and Harry must be so behind in magic. She was beginning to think she'd be the worst in the class. There was so much for her to learn. Jo was pulled out of her thoughts when she saw Ron's wand come out of his other pocket.

Ron cleared his through and pointed his wand at Srabbers, "Sunshin-"

The compartment door slid open yet again. "Has anyone seen a toad?" asked a girl with bushy brown hair. She was already dressed in her Hogwarts uniform. "A boy named Neville lost one." She looked around at the other three as they all nodded no. When her eyes found Ron's wand, she looked excited. "Oh, are you doing magic?" she asked "Let's see then."

Ron cleared his throat again and pointed his wand at Scabbers for a second time, "Sunshine, daises, butter mellow, turn this stupid fat rat yellow." A spark came from his wand as the rat squealed and then ran back into Ron's pocket. He gave a shrug.

"Are you sure that's a real spell?" asked the girl. "Well, it's not very good, is it? Of course, I've only tried a few simple ones myself, and they've all worked for me."

"You've been practicing spells?" Jo asked in shock. Now she was really beginning to worry. Why didn't she think of that over the last month with the Dursleys? Her wand had been sitting in it's box in her trunk the entire time, and not once had she thought about taking it out and trying a few spells. She was going to be a horrible witch, she thought.

"Sure," said the girl and she walked right in and sat down in front of Harry. "For example." She pointed her wand at Harry who gulped. "Oculus Reparo." The brim of Harry's glasses repaired itself. They looked good as new. "That's better isn't it?"

"Wow," said Jo. "That was really good."

"Thanks," said the girl happily, watching as Harry took off his glasses to examine them. Then she gave a gasp, "Holy cricket! You're Harry Potter," exclaimed the girl. Then she turned to Jo. "And you're-"

"Jo," Jo cut her off quickly, "or JoJo."

"I'm Hermione Granger," said the girl. "I've read all about you two."

"You've read about us?" said Jo incredulously.

"Of course," said Hermione as if Jo were crazy. "You're in dozens of books." Jo didn't know what to say to that.

"And who are you?" Hermione demanded of Ron while his mouth was full with treats.

"I'm Ron Weasley," said Ron through a stuffed mouth.

Hermione gave him a odd look, "Pleasure." Then she looked back to Jo and Harry. "You better change into your robes. I expect we'll be arriving soon." She stood up and then turned around at the door. Looking down at Ron she added, "You've got dirt on your nose by the way, just there," she pointed, and then left.

"I hope I'm not in the same house as her," mumbled Ron when Hermione was gone.

"She was nice, I like her," said Jo.

Harry and Ron exchanged a look. "Girls," said Ron, shaking his head.

Night had now fallen and the three were finally dressed in their Hogwarts robes. They had to be getting much closer because Jo could feel the excitement going up and down the train. Excitement for the first years for finally coming to Hogwarts, and excitement for the older students returning. The train was beginning to slow down and Jo pressed her face against the window as a station came up suddenly. As the train was slowing to a stop, Jo read a sign that said 'Hogsmeade Station.' So close, Jo thought to herself, they were so close.

When the train came to a complete stop, a voice echoed throughout the train. "We have arrived at Hogwarts. Please keep all luggage and animals on the train. They will arrive to school separately."

Jo's stomach was doing butterflies and Harry and Ron, she saw, looked just as nervous as she felt. The three filed out of the compartment and joined the crowd in the corridor towards the closest doors. Once the doors opened, people began pushing their way forward and out onto the station platform.

"Right then! First years this way, please!" came a familiar voice. Jo looked at Harry in excitement. She knew that voice. "Come on now, first years, don't be shy!"

Jo pushed her way onto the platform. It took her less than a second to spot him. Hagrid was standing a few feet away with a lamp. Jo made her way straight up the Hagrid, followed closely by Harry, and then Ron.

Hagrid grinned when he saw the twins, "Hello, JoJo, Harry," he said.

"Hey Hagrid," Jo and Harry said together.

Ron looked up at Hagrid in shock, "Whoa!"

Once all the first years were standing around Hagrid he said "Right then, this way to the boats." He turned around and led the first years down a path. The path twisted and turned, narrowing in some spots. A few minutes later, the path opened up and to reveal a large black lake. And on the other side of that lake stood an enormous castle. _Hogwarts_. Jo's mouth dropped open. You could hear the "oohs" and "ahhs" throughout the first years looking at the beautiful sight before them.

At the edge of the lake were small boats. Hagrid was standing in front of them. "Right now," he said, "no more than four to a boat. Come on now."

Harry and Ron started towards a boat and Jo followed them. Then she suddenly felt someone close beside her. She turned to see Hermione standing right beside her, looking nervous.

"Want to ride with me?" Jo asked, pointing to the boat that her brother and Ron had just sat down in. A smile broke out on Hermione's face and she nodded quickly.

Jo, Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat in the boat together waiting for what was to come next.

"Everyone ready?" called Hagrid, "Everyone in?" The first years mumbled their responses. "Alright then," yelled Hagrid, "FORWARD!"

Then the boats all moved forward, away from the edge of the lake venturing out farther and closer towards the castle. As they glided across the dark lake, all you heard was silence. Every student was looking at the castle in awe. Hogwarts was so beautiful and Jo couldn't wait to step foot inside.

Once across the lake, Hagrid led them away from the boats and took the first years up several flights of stairs leading up to Hogwarts. Finally, after what felt like ages, Jo and the rest of the first years were standing outside of a giant oak door. Hagrid raised a giant fist and banged on the door a few times. They waited in silence a for more moments before the doors swung open very slowly.

* * *

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	8. Chapter 7

The door swung open to reveal a tall, very stern looking witch wearing emerald-green robes. She looked down at the first years with no smile. Jo instantly knew that this was someone not to piss off. Hagrid cleared his throat and said, "Professor, McGonagall, here are the first years."

"Thank you Hagrid," said Professor McGonagall. "I can manage from here."

She pulled open the door wider, allowing the first years to step through into the entrance hall. Jo's eyes wandered to and fro, taking in every detail of the enormous hall with a grand staircase that led to other parts of the castle. Hogwarts was just as beautiful in the inside as it was outside. Jo didn't think she would ever get used to its stunning looks.

Professor McGonagall led the first years further into the hall to another set of doors. She turned around and faced the first years as they all gathered around her.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," she began, "Now, in a few moments, you will pass through these doors and join your classmates. But before you can take your seats, you must be sorted into your houses."

Jo gulped. Sorted into their houses? What did they have to do, some sort of test? The idea freighted Jo a bit.

"They are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin," continued Professor McGonagall. "Now, while you are here, your house will be like your family. Your triumphs will earn you points. Any rule-breaking, and you will lose points." She pointed off to the side at four large hour glasses with gems. That was house they kept track of the points, Jo thought. "At the end of the year," said Professor McGonagall, "The house with the most points is awarded the house cup-"

"TREVOR!"

A round boy pushed passed Jo and Hermione and bent down at the top step. When he stood back up, he was holding a toad. That was the boy who lost his on the train. The boy looked at Professor McGonagall nervously as she gave him a stern look, not happy that she had interrupted her. The boy filed back into the group, his face bright red. "Sorry," he muttered quietly.

Professor McGonagall then addressed the entire group, "The sorting ceremony will be begin momentarily." Then she turned and left the first years in the hall.

Excited whispers swept around the group. Everyone was trying to figure out what the sorting ceremony was and what they had to do.

"Do you think we have to take some sort of test?" Jo asked Hermione.

But before Hermione could respond, a blond boy called out from within the group, "It's true then, what they're saying on the train. Harry and Joanna Potter have come to Hogwarts." All the other students around them gasped and starting whispering excitedly.

"That's them, isn't it?"

"The one with the glasses."  
"The girl standing next to him?"

Jo narrowed her eyes at the boy. He was the one she and Harry had met in Diagon Alley. Guess she wouldn't be able to avoid him after all, she thought to herself.

The boy nodded to his two big buddies beside him, "This is Crabbe and Goyle," he said, then taking a step forward to stand in front of the twins, "And I'm Malfoy. Draco Malfoy."

Jo heard Ron snicker on the other side of Harry and she couldn't blame him. It was an awful name.

Draco turned quickly on Ron, "Think my name's funny, do you? No need to ask yours.," he sneered, "Red hair and a hand-me-down robe? You must be a Weasley."

Ron's ears turned pink and Jo suddenly felt anger towards Draco. He was just like Dudley, another bully to deal with, and Jo hated bullies.

Draco turned back to Harry and Jo and said, "You'll soon find out that some wizarding families are better than others. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort," he looked at Ron. "I can help you there." He extended his hand towards Harry.

Jo scoffed, "The wrong sort, huh?" and she folded her arms across her chest. No way was she going to be friends with this kid, and she knew Harry wouldn't stand for it either.

And she was right. Harry looked down at Draco's hand and then back up to his face and said, "I think we can tell the wrong sort for ourselves, thanks." Jo felt a little smirk on her face. Way to go, Harry, she cheered.

Draco didn't like that one bit. His face darkened and he opened his mouth to say something, but Professor McGonagall had returned and tapped his shoulder with scroll she brought back with her. Draco gave one last death glare to the twins and then returned to stand beside Crabbe and Goyle.

"We're ready for you now," said Professor McGonagall. She walked over to the doors and pushed them open.

The tense moment was gone, replaced by the excitement as everyone start whispering amongst each other. Professor McGonagall led the group forward into the Great Hall. And again, Jo was taken by surprise by its appearance. It was a grand room. There were four long tables filled with students that Jo knew was meant for each house. And at the front of the hall stood another long time that all the Professors were sitting at. Jo spotted Hagrid right away and waved to him excitedly. Hagrid was smiling happily and returned her wave.

As they walked up the middle of the hall, closer to the front, Jo noticed that the ceiling was black, filled with twinkling stars. "Wow," she sighed.

"It's not real you know," Hermione whispered next to her. "It's just bewitched to look like the night sky. I read about it in-""

"Hogwarts, A History," finished Jo, "Yeah, I read that too."

The girls shared a smile with each other and Jo was beginning to feel the start of a friendship forming.

When they reached the front of the hall in front of the staff table, Professor McGonagall had them gather around, "All right, will you wait along here, please?" she said, directing the first years around a stool that had a very old looking hat placed on it. "Now, before we begin, Professor Dumbledore would like to say a few words."

Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts, had risen from his seat at the middle of the staff table. He addressed the entire hall, "I have a few start-of-term notices I wish to announce," he began. "The first years, please note, that the dark forrest is strictly forbidden to all students. Also, our caretaker, Mr. Filch, has asked me to remind you that the third-floor corridor on the right hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a most painful death. Thank you." And then he sat back down.

"What?" Jo asked Harry, "He's kidding, right?" But he looked just as confused.

Professor McGonagall opened up the scroll she held and then announced, "When I call your name, you will come forth, and I shall place the sorting hat on your heard and you will be sorted into your houses." She picked up the old, black, pointed hat off the stool. She looked down at the list she held and Jo held her breath.

"Hermione Granger," called Professor McGonagall.

"Oh, no," Hermione whispered beside Jo.

"Relax," Jo whispered back to her, "You got this." Hermione nodded shakily and slowly walked towards Professor McGonagall.

"Mental, that one. I'm telling you," said Ron to Harry.

Jo shot the boys a look, "Be nice you two." Then she looked back up at Hermione as she sat down on the stool. Professor McGonagall placed the hat down on top of her head.

Then the hat did something Jo did not expect at all. It came to life. The brim of the hat formed its mouth, and Jo could make out 2 sections that were meant for eyes. The hat began to speak.

"Ah, right, then," it said, "Hmm. Right... Ok... GRYFFINDOR!".

Hermione's eyes found Jo's and Jo gave her two thumbs up. The Gryffindor table erupted with cheers and Hermione jumped up off the stool and made her way over to the table with a big smile on her face. Jo hoped they would be in the same house, she was really seeing Hermione as a friend.

"Draco Malfoy," called Professor McGonagall once the cheering died down.

Draco stepped forward. He was barely sitting on the stool and the hat was hardly touching his head when it yelled out, "SLYTHERIN!"

The Slytherin table burst into applause and Draco made his way over to them with a smug expression on his face. Jo wished she could just smack it off.

Ron turned to the Potters and said, "There's not a witch or wizard who went bad who wasn't in Slytherin."

"Well, I guess we definitely know what kind of person he is now," muttered Jo.

"Susan Bones!" called Professor McGonagall. A shy girl with red hair like Jo's stepped forward nervously. While she was sitting on the stool, Jo noticed Harry's hand shoot up to his forehead, rubbing his scar.

"What's wrong, Harry,?" she asked in alarm. Harry had never done something like that before.

"Nothing," he said quickly. "Nothing, I'm fine." Jo looked at him in concern, and Harry just shook his head. He didn't want to say anything more about it.

Susan Bones was still sitting on the stool. The hat then called out, "I know... HUFFLEPUFF!" Susan looked so relieved and she went running over to her table.

"Ronald Weasley," said Professor McGonagall next. Jo could literally hear Ron gulp. Harry had to give him a little nudge for him to go up the steps to the stool. Once he sat down, Professor McGonagall placed the hat on Ron's head. Jo thought he was going to be sick. His face looked so green.

"HA!" shouted the hat, making everyone jump. "Another Weasley. I know just what to do with you... GRYFFINDOR!"

The Gryffindor table cheered again and Jo and Harry watched Ron run down to it, joining his three older brothers who all slapped him on the back. Good for you, Ron, thought Jo.

"Harry Potter," called Professor McGonagall. The cheers stopped and the whispers began.

"Did she say Harry Potter?"

"THE Harry Potter?"

"I can't see him, where is he?"

Harry looked at Jo with wide eyes, "Go on, Harry, hurry up." She pushed him forward and he walked slowly up the stairs. The whispered continued until the hat was placed on his head. Then dead silence. Jo thought she saw Professor Dumbledore's face change. She couldn't read it, but there was something in it.

"Hmm," said the hat on Harry's head. "Difficult, very difficulty. Plenty of courage, I see. Not a bad mind either. There's talent- oh yes- and a thirst to prove yourself. But where to put you?"

Jo saw Harry close his eyes and begin whispering. What he was saying, she had no idea. But she was so nervous for him now.

"Better be..." said the hat, with a long pause. "GRYFFINDOR!"

The cheers from the Gryffindor table were the loudest of the night. Everyone at the Gryffindor table was so excited that Harry was in their house. Jo watched as her brother ran down and joined Ron and Hermione. And in that moment, Jo started to feel sick. Seeing her brother with Ron and Hermione scared her. What if she wasn't with them? What if she was placed in a different house? She and Harry had never been separated before and the thought scared her to death. She never even thought of the fact of she and Harry not being in the same house.

"Joanna Potter," Professor McGonagall called next. Jo took a deep breath and stepped forward. And just like when Harry's name was called, people were whispering just as excitedly about her as they were with Harry. There was no turning back now, she had to do this. She had to brave up and take whatever came at her.

When she made it to the stool, she looked at Professor Dumbledore. There was a twinkle in his eye and Jo could have sworn he had just winked at her, which made her smile and ease her nerves a bit. Jo turned around and sat down on the stool, facing the entire hall.

"Ah, yes..." said the hat. He sounded much louder now that she was wearing the it. "Another Potter. Almost as difficult as your brother, you are. Smart, yes, very smart. But courageous as well. Two very overpowering qualities. But I know where you truly belong."

Jo closed her eyes. She felt like she had been on that stool for years rather than seconds.

"Alright..." said the hat. "GRYFFINDOR!"

Jo let out a heavy sigh, realizing she had been holding her breath. The Gryffindor table began cheering even louder and most were standing on their feet clapping and whooping. "We got the Potters, we got the Potters, we got the Potters!" the Weasley twins were chanting.

Once McGonagall took the Sorting Hat off of her, Jo ran down to the table, sitting next to Hermione and across from Harry and Ron. She felt like the weight of the world had been lifted of her shoulder. All that worrying for nothing, she thought. She was just thrilled to be in the same house as her brother and new found friends.

When the Sorting Hat had placed all the first years into to their houses, Professor Dumbledore stood up once again. "Let the feast, begin."

And then all of a sudden, food appeared on the empty plates on the tables.

"Whoa," Jo said. She didn't know what to eat first. The Dursley never had food like this before, and even if they did, she and Harry wouldn't be allowed to have anything. So, in the end, she decided to take a little bit of everything, digging right in.

The students began chattering away and the hall was filled with loud laughter, talking, and the clanging of plates and sliver wear.

"I'm half and half," said a boy a few seats down from Jo. "Me dad's a Muggle, mum's a witch. Bit of a nasty shock for him when he found out.

"What about you, Hermione?" Jo asked in between bites. "Are your parents wizards too."

Hermione shook her head, "No, they're Muggles. Both my parents are dentists."

"Oh, neat," said Jo. "And you're parents are, you know, cool about you being a witch and all."

"Oh, of course, they're both really excited about it actually," said Hermione.

"Say, Percy," Harry said, "Who's that teacher talking to Professor Quirrell?" Jo followed Harry's line of sight to a professor with black robes and slick, greasy, long black hair talking with Professor Quirrell.

"Oh, that's Professor Snape, head of Slytherin house."

"What's he teach?" asked Jo curiously.

"Potions," answered Percy, "But everyone knows its the Dark Arts he fancies. He's been after Quirrell's job for years."

Jo looked back up at Professor Snape, staring at her new Potions teacher. He didn't look like the sort of person to mess around with, actually, he looked like a very unpleasant person. Just then, Snape looked right back at her, and Jo's eyes widen. But before she looked away, she thought she saw the edges of his mouth go up. He looked at her like he knew her. Strange, Jo thought, and she went back to eating.

Ron was picking out another piece of chicken when he cried out.

"Ahh," Jo yelped, leaning backwards. A head of a man had appeared out of the chicken and he was smiling, looking around at them all. He was transparent, like a ghost.

"Hello," said the man to Jo. "How are you? Welcome to Gryffindor."

Then came sound of wind blowing, and other human shaped figures were entering the Great Hall, arriving through the walls, floor, and ceiling, appearing out of no where. They were ghosts! Jo thought excitedly. The ghosts flew around all the Great Hall.

"Hello, Sir Nicholas," said Percy to head sticking out of the chicken. "Have a nice summer?"

"Dismal," said Sir Nicholas, "Once again, my request to join the headless hunt has been denied."

He started to float away when Ron blurted out, "I know you! You're Nearly Headless Nick, aren't you?"

"I prefer Sir Nicholas, if you don't mind."

"Nearly headless," pondered Jo. "How can you be nearly headless?"

"Like so," responded Sir Nicholas, and he tipped his head to side, it was partially severed.

"Gross," said Ron.

"Ugh," Jo said, "Sorry I asked..."

"Me too," said Harry, pushing his plate away from him.

The feast was amazing, but the desserts were even better. Jo had never remembered a time where she had eaten this much food. She could get used to this. And when the feast was over, Professor Dumbledore stood up yet again. "And now, off to bed you go."

Percy stood up quickly. "First years, follow me please," he directed. Jo had the felling that he was someone who liked being the boss and loved rules. All the first years at the Gryffindor table stood up and followed him out of the Great Hall. He led them up the marble grand staircase. When they turned the corner Jo stopped dead in her tracks, causing her brother to walk into her.  
"Jo, why'd you stop?" asked Harry in annoyance. Jo pointed upwards and Harry's draw dropped.

"This is the direct route to the dormitories," stated Percy, "Oh, and keep an eye on the staircases. They like to move."

Before the group, were other staircases, staircases that moved around, up, down, sideways, and spinning in all sorts of directions, taking a person to the different corridors that led to other parts of the castle. Jo knew for sure she was going to get lost.

Percy began walking up one of the closest staircases, "Come on now, keep up. This way."

Along the walls of the staircases were picture frames of all shapes and sizes. When Jo took a closer look at them, she noticed that the people in the pictures were moving.

"Harry," she said excitedly, tapping her brother on the arm and pointed at one of the paintings. "That picture's moving!"

"Wow," said Harry in shock.

"Don't the pictures move in the Muggle world?" asked Ron, surprised at Jo's, Harry's, and Hermione's looks of disbelief. The three of them shook their heads no. "Strange," Ron pondered.

Percy led the group away from the staircases on the 7th floor and took them down the long corridor to the very end. There was a painting there of a fat lady in a pink dress, looking at them without an expression.

"Password," she said, in a rather deep voice.

"Caput Draconis," answered Percy. The fat lady inclined her head and then the painting opened towards them. Percy led the new Gryffindors through the portrait hole. "Follow me everyone."

"Wow!"

"This is amazing!"

"Can you believe this?"

Percy had led them into a circular room filled with red armchairs that looked amazingly comfortable to Jo's eyes. There were plenty of chairs and tables and couches with a fire burning, making the room feel nice and cozy. The walls were scarlet and gold, the Gryffindor colors. Jo knew she was gonna like this room a lot.

"Gather round here," Percy ordered, and the first years filed in around Percy. "Welcome to the Gryffindor Common Room," he said. "Boys' dormitories, upstairs and down to your left, girls' the same on your right. You'll find all your belongings have already been brought up."

And with that, the girls and boys went their separate ways. Jo quickly said goodnight to her brother before following Hermione into the girls' dormitory. This was the first time she and Harry wouldn't be sharing a room, and honestly, she was quite alright with that. She never had sleepovers with other girls her age, or even had girls that were her friend and her age. Everything was so new and exciting, and Jo was just going along with it.

The girls found the door that was labeled first years, and Hermione pushed it right open. It was another circular room and inside were five four posters beds with deep red velvet curtains.

Jo found her trunk in front of her bed on the other side of the room next to a window. Hermione's bed was right next to hers and Jo was so happy. The two girls were talking excited about tomorrow being the first day of classes when one of the other girls came running over and grabbed Jo's hands and started jumping up and down. It happened so quickly, Jo didn't know how to react.

"Oh, my goodness," said the girl in a high pitched voice, "This is just so amazing, isn't it? I can't believe I'm really here and of course I'm sharing a dormitory with Joanna Potter. My parents are going to freak!" She spoke so fast, Jo wasn't sure she even heard the girl clearly.

"Oh, yeah," said Jo, feeling awkward and she pulled her hands free. "Really amazing. And please, call me JoJo."

"I'm Lavender Brown by the way," said Lavender. "And that's Parvati," she pointed to one of the girls with darker skin, "And that's Fay," pointing to the other girl with blonde hair. They both waved at Jo excitedly, ignoring Hermione.

"I'm Hermione," said Hermione very shyly.

But Lavender cut her right off. "What do you think tomorrow's going to be like?"

Jo saw the hurt on Hermione's face and didn't like that one bit. "Listen, Hermione and I are really tired and just want to go to bed. We can talk about this some other time."

"Oh, okay," Lavender said with some disappointment, but she took the hint and walked back to the other girls.

"Thanks," Hermione mumbled.

"Don't worry, Hermione," Jo said as she climbed into her warm four-poster bed. "That's what friends are for." Hermione smiled brightly at that and the two girls said goodnight before rolling over.

Jo was excited for what the school day would bring. She couldn't wait to start learning anything and everything. She and Hermione were hitting it off and she knew Harry found a friend in Ron. She hoped Harry was just as excited as she felt. Their lives had changed for the better, and tomorrow was just the beginning.

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Thanks for reading and for reviews! Twitter: lmf121_fanfic


	9. Chapter 8

Jo awoke the next morning with a huge smile on her face. Today was the day, the day she began her schooling in magic, living in a world she had only imagined and now finding herself actual being apart of it. It was the happiest she had ever been and she couldn't wait to get the day started. She looked over at the bed next to hers. Hermione was already up and dressed, tying her shoelaces.

"Good morning," Hermione said brightly to Jo.

"Morning," Jo said happily back. She quickly got out of bed and got dressed in her very own Hogwarts robe. She pulled her hair back in her usually ponytail, brushed her teeth, and was ready to go. The two were the first to wake up in their dormitory, and when they went out the door, the others were beginning to stir slightly.

When they walked down into the common room, Jo again looked around in awe. "I still can't get over any of this," she said to Hermione.

"I know," I agreed Hermione, "It's amazing."

Jo looked back up the stairs towards the boy's dormitory. "Should we wait for Harry and Ron?"

Hermione shrugged, "Who knows how long they'll be, we'll meet them at breakfast."

Thankfully for Jo, Hermione had a great sense of direction and remembered the exact route they had taken from the night before to get to the common room. So she led the both of them back to Great Hall. Jo wished she had paid more attention to the route they took, but she was still mesmerized by the moving staircases and moving paintings.

The girls made it down to the Great Hall in no time along with the other students who were heading to breakfast as well. Jo suddenly felt more conscious of herself when she noticed some of the other students pointing, staring, and whispering.

"That's Joanna Potter that is!"

"Where's the other one, he's the one with the scar, isn't he?"

"I can't believe we go to school with the Potters!"

Jo felt very uncomfortable. Coming from a life where she was constantly ignored or avoided by other people, then to have them pointing and staring at her, she didn't know how to take it. So she kept on walking with Hermione to the Gryffindor table with her head down.

"Don't worry about them, JoJo," said Hermione. "They've grown up knowing about you and Harry and now they're star struck."

"Maybe so," Jo said, filling up her plate with a bit of everything. "It's just weird, that's all. I'm not used to it. Harry and I just found out about this world a month ago and then found out we were famous and still don't really understand why, it's just a lot to take in."

"Just give it some time. Before you know it, no one will care anymore and you'll be just as normal as the rest of us," said Hermione. Jo smiled at her new friend. It was nice to be friends with someone who was on the same page as you. New to a new world and very understanding. And to think she was worried she wasn't going to be making any friends.

The girls ate their breakfast while chattering away talking about their Muggle lives before the wizarding world. It was mostly Hermione doing the talking, which Jo didn't mind. Then the time came for them to go to their first class and it had just dawned on Jo that she hadn't seen her brother yet, or Ron.

"Absolutely not," Hermione was saying as they climbed their way up the stairs to their Transfiguration lesson. "If we go looking for them, we'll be late ourselves. And I do not want to be late for our first lesson."

"Okay," said Jo nervously. But Hermione was right. And besides, Harry's a big boy. Jo can't be holding his hand all the time. She just wished he'd be there in time for their first class.

When they entered their Transfiguration classroom, Professor McGonagall was standing at the front of the class sitting behind her desk. Jo thought correctly, she was not a teacher to cross. Several students were already there, but no Harry or Ron.

Jo and Hermione sat together at one of the desks in the front of the classroom. Jo took her Transfiguration book out and her ink and quill. Then she looked back at the door, waiting for her brother to walk in.

"Transfiguration," began Professor McGonagall, once the bell rung, and grabbing Jo's attention, "is a branch of magic that allows you to alter or change the form or appearance of an object. It can be done to most, if not all, objects. And sometimes, people," Professor McGonagall stood up from desk and moved beside it. Then all of a sudden, there was a tabby cat sitting where Professor McGonagall once stood. The class broke out into cries of shock, some even clapping. Then the cat changed back into Professor McGonagall. Jo was mesmerized. "Transfiguration will challenge you and force you to work hard. And to do that, we must start at the beginning. So if you will, please copy these notes down and we will then go through them extensively."

Professor McGonagall pointed her wand at the chalk board behind her and words appeared instantly. Jo was loving magic more and more by the second. She dipped her quill in her ink and began taking notes. The next time she looked back up from her notes, Professor McGonagall had turned back into the cat and was sitting on top of her desk with a watchful eye on everyone.

After about five minutes of taking notes, a sudden bang came from the back of the room. Jo looked back to see her brother and Ron huffing and puffing their way into the class room. Jo looked back at Hermione who rolled her eyes, "Boys," she muttered, and went back to her note taking.

Harry and Ron came running up the middle isle of desks, "Whew, made it," said Ron, catching his breath. "Can you imagine the look on old McGonagall's face if we were late?"

Jo grimaced, oh no Ronald, she thought. And just then, the cat on the desk turned back into Professor McGonagall again. Jo had to stifle her laughter at the looks on both Harry and Ron's faces. Their jaws had dropped.

"That was bloody brilliant," said Ron and Harry nodded in agreement.

"Oh, thank you for that assessment, Mr. Weasley," Professor McGonagall said sharply. "Perhaps it would be more useful if I were to transfigure Mr. Potter and yourself into a pocket watch? That way, one of you might be on time."

"We got lost," said Harry quickly.

"Then perhaps a map? I trust you don't need one to find your seats," said Professor McGonagall with a stern look. The boys shook their heads quickly and sat down at the only remainder desk in the room. The rest of the class passed without an incident and when the bell rung, Jo was excited to go to her next class, Potions. She had read her book at least 3 times and was ready to learn more in class.

"Just couldn't resist making an entrance, could you?" Jo asked Harry as they walked down towards the dungeons for their potions class.

"Shut up," muttered Harry, keeping his head down walking through the corridor. It seemed like Harry wasn't as much of a fan of the whispering and pointing like Jo.

"Don't worry, Harry. We'll get through it together," Jo whispered to him. Harry gave her a small smile.

The potions classroom was a lot different than her Transfiguration classroom. It was a lot darker and had different odors throughout the room. Jo looked around with great interest at the different jars filled with ingredients. Everything you needed to brew a potion successfully.

The door suddenly banged open and in came Professor Snape with his greasy slick, black hair and his black cloak sweeping behind him. As soon as he entered the classroom the entire room went silent and all eyes watched Professor Snape stride to the front of the class. He turned so quickly to face them, making his cloak snap behind him. Jo gulped. He seemed a little too intense for her liking. Professor Snape's eyes skimmed across the class. When he spotted Jo, his eyes lingered a second longer on her than anyone else. Jo again thought she was imagining everything.

In a deep drawling voice, he addressed the class. "There will be no silly wand waving and incantations in this class. As such, I don't expect many of you to appreciate the subtle science and exact art that is potion making. However, for those select few," Snape's eyes landed on Jo again and her eyes widen, "who possess the predisposition..."

Snape moved across the front of the classroom. "I can teach you how to bewitch the mind and ensnare the senses. I can tell you how to bottle fame, brew glory, and even put a stopper in death." Jo thought about writing everything down, but Professor Snape had a way of pulling her in to every word he said. The rest of the class was the same way, staring at Snape with wide eyes and open mouths. "Then again, maybe some of you have come to Hogwarts in possession of abilities so formidable that you feel comfortable enough to not pay attention..." Professor Snape's eyes fell onto Harry.

Harry was currently scrolling away on his parchment taking notes of everything Snape had just said. Jo quickly nudged her brother when Snape continued to stare at him, waiting for him to stop.

"What?" Harry muttered. Jo nodded her head towards their professor. Harry's eyes looked forward and he gulped, putting down his quill.

"Mr. Potter," sneered Professor Snape. "Our new celebrity."

Oh no, thought Jo, this wasn't going to end well for Harry.

"Tell me, what would I get if added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?" asked Professor Snape. Jo knew the answer right away and she wasn't the only one. Hermione's hand went up half a second before hers.

Harry shook his head. "You don't know?" asked Snape. "Well, let's try again. Where, Mr. Potter, would you look if I asked you to find me a bazoar?" Again, Jo's and Hermione's hands went up. Harry looked at the two of them and then said to Snape, "I don't know, sir."

"And what is the difference between monkshood and wolfbane?" asked Snape, yet again.

"I don't know, sir," said Harry again. Jo was pulling for him, she really was, she wanted so desperately for Snape to call on her so she could help her out. Of course Harry didn't know any of these answers yet, he didn't read their potions book as many times as Jo had.

"Pity," Snape sneered again, "clearly fame isn't everything, is it, Mr. Potter?"

"Clearly JoJo and Hermione know the answer. It seems a pity not to ask them," Harry fired back.

Some of their classmates laughed. "Silence," said Snape in a deadly tone. Oh Harry, thought Jo, not a good idea.

Professor Snape glared at Harry and strode over to sit right in front of him and Jo. "Put your hands down," he snapped at Jo and Hermione. "For your information, Potter, asphodel and wormwood make a sleeping potion so powerful it is known as Draft of the Living Dead. A bezoar is a stone taken from the stomach of a goat and it will save you from most poisons. As for monkshood and wolfbane they are the same plant which also goes by the name of Aconite." Professor Snape and Harry stared at each other for a moment. "Well, why aren't you writing this all down?" Snape asked the rest of the class. Everyone scrambled around for their quills and notebooks, scrolling away quickly.

"Well, I think you and Snape hit it off real well. Five points taken away from Gryffindor in the first class... Almost there with Fred and George, they managed to lose points their very first night here," said Ron after their potions class.

"Harry, that wasn't smart talking back to him like that," said Jo.

"If only he had looked to see what I was writing down he'd know that I really was paying attention," said a frustrated Harry.

The four went to lunch, discussing their classes and what was to come next: Charms and Professor Flitwick. Jo was really excited for this class. Mr. Ollivander had told her that her wand was very good with charms. She wanted to put that to the test.

"Eye of rabbit, harp string hum. Turn this water into rum," came Seamus's voice a few seats away from the four. He was repeating the same spell over and over again at a goblet. After each time he had a disappointed look on his face, the spell wasn't working for him.

"What's Seamus trying to do to that glass of water?" Harry asked aloud.

"Turn it to rum," answered Ron. "Actually managed a weak tea yesterday, before..."

BOOM! Jo almost fell backwards out of her seat. Seamus managed to create a small explosion with smoke flying around him. Everyone sitting around him started laughing. Suddenly owls began screeching and Jo looked up just in time to see many owls flying around the Great Hall.

"Ah! Mail's here!" said Ron. Jo looked up in awe as the owls flew around the hall searching for whoever it was they were delivering mail to and dropping packages and letters. Jo looked back down at her books. She knew Hedwig wouldn't be flying around for her and Harry. They had no one to send them letters like Ron and Hermione's families.

Ron received a letter and a copy of the wizard newspaper, the Daily Prophet, which he threw aside. "Mind if I take a look at this?" Jo asked. Ron shook his head no and Jo reached out and opened to the front page of the Daily Prophet.

"Hey, look!" called out Dean Thomas. "Neville's got himself a remembrall."

"I've read about those," said Hermione quickly. "When the smoke turns red, it means you've forgotten something."

"The only problem is, I can't remember what I've forgotten," said Neville.

Jo lost all interest in that conversation as she read the article on the front page of the Daily Prophet. Her eyes widen and jaw dropped. "Hey, Harry, look at this! Somebody broke into Gringotts! Listen..." and she read the article out loud for the others. "Believed to be the work of dark wizards or witches unknown, Gringotts goblins, while acknowledging the breach, insist nothing was taken. The vault in question, number 713, had in fact been emptied earlier that very same day."

"That's odd," said Harry. "That's the vault Hagrid took us to and got that small package."

"I know!" exclaimed Jo. "And remember how he said that it was very secret, Hogwarts business? It must be really important for someone to go and try and steal from Gringotts."

As the week went on, there was a lot more to magic than Jo was prepared for. It was far more than just waving your wand and saying a silly incantation. Professor McGonagall's words were right, not just with Transfiguration, but with all magic. Magic challenged you, and Jo was up to that challenge. It was only the first week and the first years were already given a pile of homework from each class. Jo didn't mind it as much as Harry and Ron, in fact she actually enjoyed it. She always loved homework in her muggle school. But she had to admit, homework at Hogwarts was a bit tougher.

Aside from Transfiguration and Potions, Jo's other lessons included: Charms with Professor Flitwick who was an extremely short wizard and needed to stand on piles of books on his desk just to see everyone; Herbology, working in a green house with strange plants with Professor Sprout; Astronomy, studying the night skies; Defense Against the Dark Arts with a stuttering Professor Quirrell; and History of Magic, the most boring class of them all.

By the end of the week, Jo had managed to partly changed her match into a needle in Transfiguration, and was the only first year to make their first potion correctly. Professor Snape even awarded Jo 10 points for it, which shocked everyone, most especially the Slytherins whom they shared the lesson with. Snape actually seemed to like her a little, however, that was not the case for Harry. Her poor brother was constantly mocked by the professor during that class and sometimes managed to lose the points that Jo had gained during that first years also were not impressed by Professor Quirrell, his class was a bit of a joke, as was History of Magic, taught by the ghost, Professor Binns. By the time Friday had rolled around, Jo's fears of not knowing any magic and falling behind the others seemed to have disappeared. Lots of people she learned, came from Muggle families as well. And even those who came from wizarding families didn't have as much of a head start as Jo had believed.

As it turned out, the whispering and pointing didn't die down as much as Jo had hoped for, she and Harry were still the hot topic of school. Evan Lavender Brown was starting to annoy Jo, constantly trying to gossip with her and always grabbing her hand and hugging Jo all the time. It wasn't until Hermione put her foot down and told Lavender that Jo wasn't interested that Lavender finally stopped. Jo was so thankful to have Hermione around. The two had so much in common. Jo only wished that Ron would be a bit nicer to Hermione. She would like it more if the four of them hung out together more. Jo felt like she and Harry weren't always together. She supposed it was a good thing, to not always be with each other, but she did miss him. All and all, Jo thought she had a pretty good first week of classes at Hogwarts. She was really beginning to feel more at home and truly felt like she belonged there.

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Thanks for reading! What better way to celebrate Harry's birthday than posting another chapter for you (: Sorry for the delay. I had a crazy week at work and then I went away on vacation last week. But now I'm back in business. The plan is to post a chapter on sundays and thursday, but definitely every sunday I will have new chapter for you. Thanks for sticking around. Hope everyone has a great new week!


	10. Chapter 9

In the days that passed, Jo was beginning to realize how much she hated Draco Malfoy. She didn't think it would be possible to hate someone even more than Dudley, but here he was, always ready with a rude comment to make about anyone and everyone, especially the Potters. Thankfully, the Gryffindors didn't have to deal with the Slytherins as much except for in Potions. But when Jo saw a new notice pinned on the Gryffindor notice board in the common room she gave a loud groan. The Gryffindors and Slytherins would be having flying lessons together.

"Ugh, can you believe it?" Jo said in annoyance. "Just another reason for Draco to make fun of me. Harry, don't you remember him bragging about flying at Diagon Alley?" Harry nodded, looking just as miserable as Jo felt about the news.

"He's probably not even that good," said Ron, trying to knock some reason into the twins. "All talk, if you ask me."

Jo had to admit, she was looking forward to learning how to fly but was pretty nervous about it. She kept hearing the other kids who grew up in wizarding families talk about their experiences of flying and it sounded wonderful. She was even more excited about the lesson because Lavender Brown was dreading it. Jo couldn't wait to see how she was on a broomstick.

And if Jo was nervous about these flying lessons, it was nothing compared to Hermione. Hermione, on the other hand, came back from the library with books and books about Quidditch.

"Hermione, I don't think a book can teach you how to fly," said Jo, the morning of their flying lesson at breakfast.

"Don't doubt the books, JoJo," Hermione said, not looking up from Quidditch through the Ages. Ron made a face at that, causing Jo to give him a kick under the table. Hermione then went on giving the Gryffindor table a lecture about flying.

Her lecture eventually came to an end with the arrival of the owl post. Jo sighed and went back to her breakfast. She'd have to visit Hedwig, she thought, because at this rate she'd never see her owl.

"Did your family send you candy too?" sneered a voice behind them. Of course it was Malfoy. "Oh, wait, I forgot... you don't have a family."

Jo was out of her seat and standing toe to toe with Malfoy. He stood a couple inches taller than her, but she stood her ground. He didn't scare her.

"JoJo, no!" said Hermione, grabbing ahold of Jo's arm.

"What's going on here?" Professor McGonagall came out of nowhere and now stood beside Jo and Malfoy.

"Nothing, Professor," said Harry quickly, pulling Jo to her seat. Malfoy smirked and walked away back to the Slytherin table.

That afternoon, Jo and the other Gryffindors hurried outside the front doors to the grounds for their first ever flying lesson with Madam Hooch. The Slytherins were already there, standing around a bunch of brooms on the ground.

Malfoy gave a little wave to Jo and she felt her fingers curl over forming fists. "Just ignore him, JoJo," whispered Harry, pushing her passed the Slytherins. Jo was furious. More at herself than at Draco, for letting him get to her so easily.

The Slytherins stood off to one side with brooms while the Gryffindors stood across from them with their own brooms. Jo placed herself in between her brother and Hermione as Madam Hooch came up between the two houses. "Good afternoon class," she addressed everyone. "Welcome to your first flying lesson. Well, what are you waiting for?"

Jo's eyes widen. Madam Hooch wasn't wasting a second now was she?

"Everyone step up to the left side of your broomstick," continued Madam Hooch. "Come on now. Hurry up. Stick your right hand over the broom and say 'Up'."

All at once you could hear the first years yelling 'up.' As soon as Harry said up, his broomstick jumped into his hand. "Woah," he said, smiling at Jo happily. Jo then looked over at Hermione. Every time she said up, her broom simple rolled back and forth. Jo looked across at Malfoy and with his broom already in his hand. If he can do it, Jo thought to herself, than so can she.

Jo took a deep breath, held her hand firmly over her broomstick and said, "Up." And just like her brother, Jo's broomstick flew right up into her awaiting hand. Jo had a satisfied expression on her face.

"How did you do that?" Hermione demanded, still having a hard time getting her broom to up.

"Like this," answered Ron. He had his hand over the broom and said 'up'. Instead of his broom landing in his hand, it flew up and hit him right in the face. Jo and Harry started laughing hysterically. "Shut up, you two," said Ron, but he found it just as funny.

When every finally had their brooms in their hands, Madam Hooch said, "Now, once you've got hold of your broom, I want your to mount it and grip it tight." Everyone at once mounted their brooms. Jo's nervousness was being replaced by excitement.

"You don't want to be sliding off at the end," continued Madam Hooch. "When I blow my whistle, I want each of you to kick off from the ground hard. Keep your brooms steady, hover for a moment, then lean forward slightly and touch back down. On my whistle- three- two-"

Before Madam Hooch blew her whistle, Jo noticed Neville rising in the air on his broomstick. "Neville, no, get back down," said Jo quickly. "We're not supposed to take off yet."

Neville's broom was getting higher and higher, "Ah!" Neville shouted.

"Neville, what are you doing?"

"Mr. Longbottom," said Madam Hooch. "Mr. Longbottom, come down here right this instant!"

Neville had zero control over his broom. Within seconds he was flying away from the group and around the castle, screaming the entire way. Neville's broom took him for a ride across the grounds, twisting and turning in all sorts of directions.

As the broom got higher, Neville was starting to slide to the back of the broom. "I've got a bad feeling about this," Jo said to the others. And just then, Neville completely slide off the back of the broom and fell straight to the ground with a crack. Several students screamed as Neville hit the ground and didn't move.

"Oh my god!"  
"Do you think he's okay!"

"I can't believe that just happened!"

"Everyone out of the way!" yelled Madam Hooch as she ran straight over to Neville and helped him up. Neville had tears falling from his eyes and he was holding his wrist in an awkward angle. "Oh dear, it's a broken wrist. Good boy, come on now." Madam Hooch stood Neville up an then stood and faced the rest of the class. "Everyone's to keep their feet firmly on the ground while I take Mr. Longbottom to the Hospital Wing. Understand? If I see a single broom in the air, the one riding it will find themselves out of Hogwarts before they can say "Quidditch." Then she led Neville up towards the castle, leaving the first years behind.

Malfoy starting laughing when Madam Hooch was out of earshot. Jo then realized that he was holding something round. "Did you see his face? Maybe if the fat lump had given this a squeeze, he would have remembered to fall on his fat ass." All the Slytherins were laughing.

Malfoy was holding Neville's remembrall. "Shut up, Malfoy. And that's Neville's," said Jo, taking a step towards Malfoy.

"Yeah, give it here," said Harry, moving in front of Jo to face Malfoy.

"No," said Malfoy flatly. "I think I'll leave it somewhere for Longbottom to find." Then he got on his broomstick and flew around the rest of the class. "How about on the roof?" And then he was higher in the air. "What's the matter, Potters. A bit beyond your reach?"

Before Jo could even react, her brother was already on his broomstick getting ready to take off.

"Harry, no way," said Hermione quickly. "You heard what Madame Hooch said. Besides, you don't even know how to fly. Jo, help me out here." Hermione looked at Jo for backup, but she didn't get any.

Jo only shrugged and said, "If Harry doesn't do it than I will." She gave her brother one quick nod and Harry took off into the air.

"What an idiot," said Hermione under her breath.

Jo watched from down on the ground with the rest of her classmates. Harry and Malfoy were exchanging words that no one could hear. But Jo could tell that Malfoy was sneering the whole entire time. His face made Jo want to Malfoy threw the remembrall towards the castle, and everyone down below gasped as Harry sped off after it.

Jo watched with wide eyes as her brother flew closer and closer to the castle. "Oh I can't watch this," she said, covering her eyes. Then she heard everyone yelping and cheering all around her. "Hermione," Jo said, with her hands over her eyes still, "what happened?!"

All of a sudden, Ron pulled Jo's arms away and started jumping up and down, dragging Jo along with him. "Harry caught it before it the castle wall. He actually caught it. How did you miss that?!"

"Well I didn't want to see my brother fly head on into a castle," said Jo, looking up as her brother flew back towards the first years, holding the remembrall high up in his hand with the biggest smile on his face. As soon as Harry landed, everyone swarmed him congratulating him.

"That was wicked, Harry!"

"So amazing!"

"Good job, Harry!"

Malfoy landed a few feet away from the first years. Jo waved at him and gave the biggest smile she could muster. Take that, Malfoy, she thought. He only glared at her.

"HARRY POTTER!"

"Oh no," whispered Jo, her heart sinking. Harry's face had turned white and she couldn't blame him. Professor McGonagall was running towards the first years, the shock and anger all over her face. "Follow me," was all she said, and she turned back to the castle with Harry following her slowly.

Jo didn't see her brother again until dinner time and she was wreck. Hermione did a poor job at trying to console her about Harry being expelled. "Well, I told you to stop him but you didn't listen."

"Oh, come on," said Ron, "They're not going to expel Harry Potter."

"Who said anything about being expelled?"

Jo's head snapped up quickly. Harry sat down next to her, a huge smile on his face.

"Harry!" she exclaimed and gave him a big bear hug. "I thought McGonagall was going to expel you! She didn't, did she?"

"Nope, not expelled. Actually, she recruited me for the Gryffindor Quidditch team to play Seeker," said Harry.

"What?" said Ron, Jo, and Hermione all at the same time. Harry then explained to them what happened after he and McGonagall left everyone else.

"Seeker?" Ron said excitedly once Harry had finished his story. "But first years never make the house teams. You must be the youngest Quidditch player -"

"- in a century, according to Professor McGonagall," cut in Harry.

"Wow, Harry, that's amazing!" said Jo excitedly. "I can't wait to see the look on Malfoy's face when he finds out!"

"You can't tell anyone yet," Harry said quickly. "I start training next week and Oliver Wood, the captain, wants to keep it a secret."

"I can't believe you're on the Quidditch team," said Ron, still in disbelief.

Jo was so happy for her brother. To be the youngest player in a century was quite the accomplishment. She was more happy that he wasn't expelled honestly. But playing the wizard sport when you only learned about this world a few months ago, that was accomplishment within itself.

"I can't believe you're encouraging this," Hermione said shortly. "Harry's just really lucky that he didn't get expelled."

"Hermione, you're ruining the moment," Ron shot at her.

Hermione narrowed her eyes, packed up her books and walked straight out of the Great Hall without looking back. Jo looked at Ron. "Seriously? You could at least be a little bit nicer you know." Ron shrugged.

Just then, Fred and George sat down next to Harry. "Hey, well done, Harry. Wood's just told us," said George. Or it could of been Fred, Jo wasn't exactly sure who was who yet.

"Fred and George are on the team too... Beaters," said Ron.

"What do beaters do?" Jo asked, "Doesn't sound very nice."

Both Fred and George laughed. "Our job is to make sure that Harry doesn't get bloodied up too bad," said Fred. "Can't make any promises of course. Rough game, Quidditch."

"Brutal," added George. "But no one's died in years. Someone will vanish occasionally..."

"... But they'll turn up in a month or 2!" finished Fred. Then the Weasley twins laughed and walked further down the table towards their friends.

Harry had gone pale.

"Sure you still wan't to play?" asked Jo.

"Oh, go on, Harry," said Ron encouragingly. "Quidditch is great! Best game there is. And you'll be great, too!"

"But I've never even played Quidditch," said Harry, Fred and George's words still ringing in his ears. "What if I make a fool of myself."

"You won't, Harry," Jo said firmly. "Come on, I need to show you something." Jo led Harry and Ron out of the Great Hall. "I found this room the other day with Hermione and I found something. I was planning on showing it to you and I guess now is as better time than ever."

Jo had taken the boys into a room almost as large as a classroom. It was a room filled with trophy cases and plaques hanging on the walls of awards: The Trophy Hall. She led the boys over to the side of the room to a glass case filled with trophies.

"Look, Harry," Jo said quietly and pointed to one of the trophies. It was filled with names of previous Gryffindor Quitdditch players. And the name Jo was pointing at was none other than James Potter, their father.

"Woah, I didn't know your dad was on the Quidditch team," said Ron in shock.

"Me neither," whispered Harry.

"So you see, Harry," said Jo, "you won't make a fool of yourself, it's in your blood. Dad was a Seeker, and now you are too. You're going to be just as good, or better."

"Thanks, Jo," said Harry, giving her a side hug. "I really needed this."

On their way back to the Gryffindor Tower, Hermione caught up to them coming from the library. Jo fell into step with Hermione as the four were making their way back up the moving staircases.

"You're not mad at me, are you?" Jo asked her.

Hermione shook her head no. "No, not at all. I guess maybe I overreacted a little bit earlier."

Jo laughed. "Just a little. You need to relax a bit, Hermione. I know the rules are important and everything, but sometimes when jerks like Malfoys get in the way, you can't back down."

"What about jerks like Ronald?" Hermione muttered.

Jo sighed, "I know he hasn't been the nicest to you, but he'll come around, you'll see."

Just then, the staircase the four were on began to move. Each of them grabbed onto the railing to stay up right.

"What's happening?" asked Ron quickly.

"The staircases change, remember?" said Hermione.

The stairs took the four to another landing with a door. "Let's just go this way," said Harry, leading the other three up to the door. Harry pushed it open and lead the others into a dark, creepy corridor.

"Does anybody feel like we shouldn't be here?" asked Ron as the four walked further down the corridor.

"That's because we're not supposed to be here," said Hermione with an air of annoyance.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure this is the third floor corridor that Dumbledore specifically said not to enter," added Jo. "Which, I might add, we just did."

"Let's go," said Harry quickly. But as they turned around to go out the door, they were greeted by none other Mrs. Norris, Filch the caretaker's cat. It meowed at them and they all took a step back. She looked pretty evil to Jo.

"Um, we need to go," said Jo and she turned around and started running down the corridor looking for a place to hide or another exit. If Mrs. Norris was here, Filch wasn't too far behind. "Quick, let's hid through that door!"

Harry, being the fastest, got there first. He was pulling desperately on the handle. "It's locked!" he exclaimed as the others finally caught up to him.

"That's it. We're done for," said Ron in a panic.

"Oh, move over," said Hermione firmly. She pushed Harry out of her way and whipped out her wand pointing it at the lock. "Alohomora," she said and the door unlocked instantly. "Get in."

The four piled in quickly. "Alohomora?" Ron questioned Hermione.

"Standard book of spells, Ronald," said Jo, "Chapter 7."

"Like I actually read what we're suppose to," Ron muttered.

"We'll you should," Jo said, "how else will you learn."

"Shh, I'm trying to hear Filch," said Hermione with her ear against the door. Jo and Ron placed their ears on the door too. They could hear Filch's voice, and then nothing.

"He's gone," said Jo, with relief.

"Probably thought this door was locked," said Ron.

"It was locked," said Hermione.

"And for good reason," said Harry. Jo just realized he was standing a few feet away from them, starring at something right in front of them.

Jo's jaw dropped. Laying in front of them taking up most of the room was a giant, black dog. And if Jo wasn't mistaking, the thing had three heads. Two of them began growling, noticing the four children standing in front of them. The dog began to rise, showing how big it truly was and Jo started taking a few steps backwards, her back resting against the door. Ron, Hermione, and Harry stood there a moment longer before screaming their heads off, which made the dog even angrier. Jo quickly whipped around and opened the door, "Guys, run!" she yelled, and the others followed her back out into the corridor, just in time as the dog lunged at them. With a struggle, the four were able to close the door on the three headed dog. Then they ran all the way back to the Gryffindor common room as fast as they could, not looking back.

As they were entering the common room Ron said, "What do they think they're doing, keeping a thing like that locked up in a school?"

"You don't use your eyes, do you?" said Hermione. "Didn't you see what it was standing on?"

"I wasn't looking at its feet! I was a bit preoccupied with its heads," Ron exclaimed. "There were three, in case you didn't notice!"

"I noticed," Jo piped up, still catching her breath.

"How could you not?" added Harry.

"You guys," said Hermione quickly. "It was standing on a trap door, which means it wasn't there by accident. It's guarding something."

"Guarding something?" Harry asked confused.

"That's right," Hermione said crossing her arms in front of her. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to bed before either of you come up with another clever idea to get us killed. Or worse, expelled." And with that she went straight up to the girl's dormitory without looking behind her.

"She needs to sort out her priorities," said Ron, Harry nodding in agreement.

"Never mind that," said Jo impatiently. "If that dog is really guarding something under a trap door, don't you know what that might be?"

Harry looked at Jo with confusion at first, but Jo could see the wheels turning. "The package Hagrid picked up at Gringotts!" he finally said.

"Exactly!" said Jo. "Remember what Hagrid said? He said there was no safer place than Gringotts except maybe Hogwarts. That has to be what the dog is guarding!"

"It definitely make sense," said Harry, agreeing with his sister.

"But what is it?" Ron asked and the three fell silent.

Jo bid the boys goodnight before returning to the girl's dormitory. She didn't know what that dog was guarding, but whatever it was, it had to be so important that Dumbledore would guard it with a 3 headed dog. It took awhile for Jo to fall asleep as her mind raced through different thoughts of what kind of object the dog was guarding. Why would something so small need something so big to guard it?

* * *

Thanks for reading! Reviews are welcomed. You could follow my twitter account for this story: lmf_121 for updates or to DM me. I plan on having a chapter ready to posted on Sunday, but Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is supposed to be delivered tomorrow and that's going to be my weekend right there (: Hope everyone has a Happy Friday and weekend ahead!


	11. Chapter 10

"Hermione, I'm telling you whatever that dog is guarding it has to be what Hagrid took out from Gringotts on mine and Harry's birthday!"

Jo and Hermione were on their way down to breakfast the next morning after discovering the three headed dog and trap door. Hermione was still angry about what happened the night before.

"I don't want to talk about it," she said hotly.

"But Hermione," said Jo is exasperation, "we can't just ignore this. This is important. Aren't you the slightest bit curious what a three headed dog is guarding in the castle? Come on!"

"No," said Hermione, as the girls sat down at the Gryffindor table. "And I don't want to find out and neither should you."

"You can't tell me that what happened last night wasn't at all exciting," said Jo, piling food on her plate.

"Oh yes, almost getting eaten by a three headed dog certainly excited me," snapped Hermione.

Jo shook her head. She knew she wasn't going to get anywhere with Hermione and she knew Harry and Ron wouldn't stand a chance either. And as they joined Jo and Hermione at the Gryffindor table, Hermione turned away from the boys not even greeting them. Luckily for Jo though, Hermione still wanted to be friends. I

Just then, owls swarmed the Great Hall with the morning post. Jo usually ignored it because she and Harry never received anything, but this time it was a different sight. Amongst the brown and black barn owls flying around, Jo noticed a spect of white. Hedwig.

"Harry, that's Hedwig," Jo said, getting her brother's attention. Hedwig was flying straight for the twins, carrying a long thin package. Hedwig dropped the package right in front of Harry and then flew to Jo's shoulder and hooted happily. Jo, Harry, Ron, and Hermione all stared at the package as did several other students who were interested in what it could be.

"You going to open it or what?" asked Ron.

"But I-" said Harry, in shock, looking at Jo. "We never get mail."

"Well, you get mail now," said Jo. "Open it!"

A smile crept up onto Harry's face and he tore away the wrappings on the package quickly. And low and behold, in front of Harry was a broomstick.

"Harry!" Jo exclaimed excitedly, "You've got a broomstick!"

"Not just any broomstick," Ron said quickly, "That's a Nimbus 2000."

"But who?" asked Harry, confused.

Hedwig took off from Jo's shoulder and flew up to the staff table, to which she landed right in front of Professor McGonagall. Professor McGonagall gave a small smile as she stroked Hedwig. "Guess that answers that question," said Jo.

Weeks had passed since then and before Jo knew it, they were almost through October. Jo realized that after being at Hogwarts for 2 months, it felt more like home than Privet Drive ever had, and she loved that feeling. Classes were now getting more intense now that they were past the basics, but Jo always loved the challenge. She and Hermione often spent many nights in the library, quizzing each other and checking each other's homework. The girls had grown closer than ever, almost becoming inseparable. Now that Harry had been busy with Quidditch, Jo had been spending more time with Hermione and she was okay with that. Jo was making friends. She and Harry couldn't always be together.

On Halloween morning, Jo awoke in a strange mood. She tried to shrug it away as she got ready for the day and during breakfast, but she couldn't shake that sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. Even Hermione could tell that Jo wasn't herself and kept trying to have a conversation with Jo. However, Jo kept answering in short answers, not really speaking to Hermione. Today didn't feel like a day to be excited about, like the rest of the school was for the Halloween Feast.

Harry knew what was bothering Jo because she brought it up to him, however, Harry didn't want to talk about it, making Jo feel even more isolated. How could he not want to talk to her about this?

When Jo and the others attended Charms that morning, Professor Flitwick announced to the entire class that they were ready to make objects fly. Jo's depressed mood slowly melted, but did not disappear entirely.

"One of a wizard's most rudimentary skills is levitation... or the ability to make objects fly." Professor Flitwick's squeaky voice began the lesson. He was standing on top of the usual piles of books on his desk. Finally, Jo thought to herself, real magic!

"Do you all have your feathers?" Professor Flitwick asked the class. Both Jo and Hermione waved their feathers up in the air. "Good," said Professor Flitwick, "Now, uh, don't forget the nice wrist movement we've been practicing, hmm? The swish and flick. Everyone."

The first years picked up their wands and waved them around while saying "Swish and flick."

"Good. Oh, and enunciate. Wingardium Leviosa," added Professor Flitwick.

Jo couldn't believe she was finally going to make something fly. She looked down at her wand with determination. Like Mr. Ollivander said excellent charm work. "Wingardium Leviosa," Jo said very clearly with a swish and flick of her wand. Her feather hovered off her desk for a brief moment and then fell gently back down. "Well that was disappointing," she said and Harry gave a chuckle. Not that she expected to get it on the first try but she thought a little more would happen, something more dramatic.

"Let's so you try," Jo challenged Harry.

Harry shrugged and then began saying, "Wingardium Leviosa," and waved his wand in all sorts of direction. Jo started laughing. "If you keep that up, Harry," she said, "you'll blow something up like Seamus."

"Hey, I heard that," said Seamus. The Potters laughed.

"No, stop, stop, _stop_ ," came Hermione's voice. "You're going to take someone's eye out. Besides, you're saying it wrong. It's Levi-osa... Not Levi-osar."

"You do it, then, if you're so clever," snapped Ron. "Go on. Go on."

Oh boy, thought Jo, these two can't ever play nice.

Hermione lifted her chin up and took a deep breath. With her wand in her hand, she swished and flicked, "Wingardium Leviosa." Her feather soar into the air above the other students. The whole class fell silent, watching Hermione's feather in awe. Jo suddenly felt a little annoyed, her strange mood coming back.

"Oh, well done!" exclaimed Professor Flitwick, "See here, everyone. Miss. Granger's done it! Oh, splendid."

Hermione looked at Jo excitedly. Jo gave a small smile and then placed her head down on her arms across the desk. Hermione's excitement turned to hurt.

"Winged Leviosa," said Seamus.

BOOM!

Jo's head shot up at the loud explosion and flash of light. Then she and some other classmates started laughing as Seamus's shocked face emerged from the smoke with his hair sticking up in all places, ash on his face. "I think we're going to need another feather over here, Professor," said Harry.

"What I tell you?" Jo chuckled.

When the class had ended and the Gryffindors were making their way across the courtyard, Ron blurted out, "It's Levi-osa, not Levio-sar." The boys laughed. Jo rolled her eyes and shook her head. "She's a nightmare, honestly. No wonder she hasn't got any friends."

Before Jo could even utter a single word to defend Hermione, someone whizzed right past her, knocking themselves into Ron. It was Hermione herself.

"I think she heard you," said Harry.

"How observant, Harry," Jo said.

Ron looked uncomfortable. "Well it's true!"

"Ron, you're so rude, do you know that?" said Jo, as she watch Hermione disappear amongst the other students. "I'm her friend. And as her friend, that was really mean."

"You can't tell me that you weren't jealous of her getting her feather to fly before you, can you?" snapped Ron.

"Sure I was a bit annoyed, but not at Hermione," said Jo. "And besides, Hermione was only trying to help you, but you had to be jerk about it. You have to apologize to her."

Ron scoffed, "Fine. I will in our next class."

But Hermione wasn't in their next class and Jo was really beginning to worry. That wasn't like Hermione at all. In fact, Jo didn't see Hermione at all the rest of the afternoon.

Jo dropped her books off in her dormitory, hoping to see Hermione there. When she asked the other girls if they had seen Hermione, Parvati answered, "I saw her in the girls' bathroom on the first floor not too long ago. She was crying, said she wanted to be left alone."

Jo hurried down into the common room where Ron and Harry were waiting for her. She shook her head, "Parvati saw her in the bathroom crying," Jo said, she narrowed her eyes at Ron who shrugged, but looked upset. "I'm going to go talk to her, maybe bring her down the feast. See you guys there." And with that, Jo set off to the bathroom to find Hermione.

When Jo had reached the bathroom, she took a deep breath before entering.

Hermione was sitting in the corner on the floor with her knees to her chest, her arms wrapped tightly around them. Her head lifted up when Jo opened the door. Hermione wiped her face quickly on her robes.

"You here to make fun of me too?" Hermione said in a shaky voice.

Jo let out a breath, she wasn't expecting that. "No, of course not Hermione. I've been looking for you all afternoon."

"Sure you have," muttered Hermione.

Jo walked over towards Hermione slowly. "Listen, Ron was just mad because you were able to do something awesome on the first try and not him," said Jo. Hermione didn't say anything. "Boys don't like it when girls can do things better than them," Jo added with a smile. "He was just jealous."

"What about you," said Hermione. "You were mad at me too, weren't you? You've been distant from me all day. You didn't even stand up for me when Ron was making fun of me." Tears began to roll down Hermione's face.

Jo walked closer to Hermione. "But I did," she said quickly. "You ran away before I could say anything. I told him off for being such a jerk to you." Jo sat down next to Hermione on the floor. "And maybe I was a bit annoyed, but not at you Hermione. At myself. At myself for not being able to get it on the first try like you."

Hermione wiped her eyes again, but didn't say anything.

Jo sighed, "Listen Hermione, at my Muggle school, I was the smart one in class. And now here at Hogwarts, I'm competing with my closest friend... I'm not used to it. And I like that you're so smart, Hermione. We help each other out, we push each other. And how else would I be able to deal with dumb and dumber all the time."

At that, Hermione gave a small chuckle.

"But that's not the reason why I've been distant today," Jo continued, playing with her fingers. She took a deep breath. "The Dursleys never told us when our parents died," Jo began. "Just that it was in a car crash and that was that, no questions asked. Then over the summer, Hagrid told us what really happened. That it was Halloween night when..." Jo came up short.

Hermione grabbed one of Jo's hands, "And today's Halloween," she said quietly, looking right at Jo.

Jo sighed again, "It just makes it more real I guess, having more details about it. And I tried talking to Harry about it today, but I don't think he wants to talk about it at all. I feel like we should talk about it, I mean its our parents. We can't ignore that they existed, especially in this world."

Hermione nodded. "Maybe he's just not ready for that talk yet."

"And I am?" asked Jo. There was nothing she could really say. What was there for her to say? Instead, the girls both sat in silence for a bit, which in the end, made each feel better. It was all they needed.

Jo's stomach gave a grumble and she laughed. "Well, I don't know about you, but I'm starving. I heard the Halloween feast is really something."

"Yeah, I guess I am pretty hungry too," said Hermione. She stood up, wiped the dust off her robes and then helped Jo up.

Just then, there was a loud bang outside the bathroom door. Both girls stood very still, looking at the door, not moving. "What do you think that was?" asked Hermione nervously.

Jo shrugged, "I don't know... but what I do know is that I'm very hungry and want some food." Jo walked over towards the door, slower than she would normally walk, with Hermione right behind her. "Maybe something just fell outside," said Jo in a whisper when the door was right in front of them.

"Okay, but why are you whispering?" Hermione whispered back.

"I don't know," said Jo quietly. "You're whispering back..."

"What if there's something out there?" asked Hermione.

"Open the door on three?" Jo asked and Hermione nodded.

"One.." the girls whispered together, "two... three..."

They pushed open the door together and their jaws dropped. They both began taking steps backwards. "Oh... my... god," Jo managed to get out. "Is that a-a...?"

"Troll," finished Hermione in a panic tone.

The girls continued taking steps backwards as the giant troll entered the girls bathroom, blocking their only way out. This is not good, Jo managed to think.

The girls' backs came to a stop, they backed all the way up to the wall. The stalls were to their right, another wall to their left, and a giant troll in front of them. They were trapped into the corner.

What Jo had just noticed, now getting over the shock of seeing a troll, was the giant club that it held in it's hand. She gulped. The troll lifted the club up, ready to strike. When it swung it's arm around, Jo yelled, "Duck!" and both girls fell straight to the floor on their stomachs, screaming. Jo covered her head with her arms and felt a gush of air pass by as the club soared right over their heads, narrowly missing them.

"Come on," Hermione shouted at Jo, pulling her up with her.

From swinging the club so hard, the troll lost its' balance, stumbling. The only way to get out of the corner and through the bathroom doors straight ahead was to run under the troll between its legs. Hermione still held onto Jo's arm, leading the way, but they were a second too late. The troll regained control of his balance and was turning back towards the girls.

"That way, that way, that way," yelled Jo, pushing Hermione towards the stalls.

Hermione ran into the first stall, closing the door behind her. Jo tried to get to the second stall, but she wasn't fast enough. Out of the corner of her, she could see the troll getting ready to attack again.

"Hermione, get down," Jo shouted as she dropped to the floor for a second time.

The troll swung its massive club across the wooden stalls, sending debris everywhere. The troll had lost it's balance again and now had its back to the girls.

"Hermione, are you okay?" Jo called over towards the stalls. Pieces of wood were everywhere, and Jo couldn't see her friend.

"Yes," came a muffled voice and a moment.

Jo sighed in relief. "Stay there," she said quickly. "He won't be able to see you." Jo then crawled over to the sinks to hide under one just in time as the troll turned around again.

Jo held her breath and tried to remain absolutely still. The troll was searching around the room, looking for the girls. Please, please, please, just leave, Jo thought over and over again. But as luck would have it, the troll spotted her, not that she had a very good hiding place to begin with. When the troll saw her, he took 2 giant steps towards her shaking the whole room.

Just then, two people entered the bathroom from behind the troll. It was Harry and Ron.

Harry saw Jo in front of the troll and yelled, "Joanna, move!"

The troll raised it's club again, and Jo crawled up to the next couple of sinks just in time as the troll's club came crashing down on top of the sink she had just been under.

"Help!" Jo screamed at the boys. Both Ron and Harry began throwing splinters of wood at the troll, trying to get its attention. However, the troll was only interested in Jo.

"Hey, pea brain," yelled Ron and he threw another piece of wood. That time the troll turned its head just in time to be smacked in the face.

Hermione then attempted to crawl out of the rubble of wood towards Jo. "Hermione, no!" yelled Jo. "Go back." The troll then turned it's attention onto Hermione.

In the rush of the moment, Harry charged the troll as he was lifting the club up to strike again. Harry latched on to the club and it lifted him up and dropped him right on top of the troll's shoulders. Well the troll noticed this right away and tried to shake Harry off.

"Harry," Jo yelled out. Her eyes widening with fear. The troll could easily through her brother across the room and he'd be done for it.

"Woah," yelled Harry, as the troll leaned forward quickly. Harry took that opportunity to stick his wand up the trolls nose.

"Ew, gross," said Jo. Hermione scrambled over to her quickly.

Now the troll was really shaking all over the place. His massive arm grabbed ahold of Harry's leg and pulled him off its shoulder, holding Jo's brother upside down. The troll took a swing at Harry, who did a quick sit up to avoid being hit. The troll took another swing at Harry, and another.

"Ron," called Jo. "Do something?"

"What?" asked Ron.

"ANYTHING!" yelled Harry who was still dodging the club. "HURRY UP!"

Ron took his wand out nervously.

"Swish and flick," said Hermione quickly.

Ron nodded and looked at the troll seriously. "Wingardium Leviosa," he said.

The troll was in mid swing when it's club slipped out of its hand was was floating above its head. He looked up at it stupidly, trying to figure out how it got there. Then the club dropped and landed right on top of the troll's head, hitting him smack heard. The troll let go of Harry, who dropped to the floor with a thud.

"Cool," said Ron.

Jo was looking up at the troll who suddenly began to sway. "Harry, you gotta move!" said Jo quickly, "Timber."

Harry crawled backwards quickly away from the troll as it swayed to and fro. And just like Jo had predicted, down went the troll with a loud bang, shaking the room like an earthquake and sending dust everywhere.

The four coughed as the dust disappeared, revealing the troll laying on the floor. Harry stood back up next to Ron while the girls got out from under the sinks together. They all stared at the troll laying still on the ground.

"Is it... dead?" asked Hermione.

Jo shook her head. "It can't be..."

"No," said Harry. "Probably just knocked out." He reached down slowly and pulled his wand out of the trolls nose. The troll grunted, causing the girls to jump back. Harry lifted his wand up with slim covering nearly half of it.

"Oh, troll bogies," said Ron is disgust.

Just then, the four heard hurried footsteps, followed by the entrance of Professors McGonagall, Quirrell, and Snape.

"Oh, my goodness," exclaimed Professor McGonagall, holding a hand over her heart. The other professors looked just as shock as she did. "Explain yourselves, both of you!" she pointed at the boys.

Both began, stuttering... "Well, what it is-."

"It's my fault Professor McGonagall," said Hermione suddenly. Jo snapped her head quickly to look at Hermione in confusion.

"What are you-?"

"I went looking for the troll," said Hermione loudly, talking over Jo. "I'd read about them and thought I could handle it, but I was wrong. Jo tried talking me out of it, and followed me trying to stop me. If Harry and Ron hadn't come and found us, we'd probably be dead."

"Be that as it may," said Professor McGonagall, still in shock, "it was and extremely foolish thing to do. I would have expected more rational behavior on your part, and I am very disappointed in you, Miss Granger. Five points will be taken from Gryffindor for your serious lack of judgment. As for you two gentlemen," continued McGonagall looking at Ron and Harry, "I just hope you realize how fortunate you are. Not many first-year students could take on a fully-grown mountain troll and live to tell the tale. 5 points will be awarded to each of you, for sheer dumb luck."

With that, Professor McGonagall turned on her heels and walked out of the girls' bathroom. Snape lingered a little longer and then followed her out. It was just then that Jo noticed he had a certain limp to his step that wasn't there before.

Professor Quirrell was left with the four. "Perhaps you ought to go, m-might wake up," he said quickly. The troll grunted, making Quirrell jump.

"What? No points for me?" said Jo suddenly as they walked back towards the Gryffindor Common Room. "I tried to stop you, Hermione." The others laughed.

"Good of you to get us out of trouble like that," said Harry.

"Mind you, we did save her life," said Ron.

"Mind you, she might not have needed saving if you hadn't insulted her," said Harry.

Ron looked over at Hermione with a smile, "What are friends for?" he said.

Jo had never seen Hermione smile so big before, and that turned her spirits around. Halloween might have been the day that her parents were taken from her and her brother, but Jo will soon realize as the years go by, that it was also the time that the four become inseparable, always friends, always a team. And that was the positive Jo took from a dark day in her past.


	12. Chapter 11

"Try a bit of toast, Harry," Jo said the next morning. The gang was sitting together in the Great Hall with the rest of the school for breakfast. Harry was pushing his food around with his fork, not taking a single bite.

"JoJo's right, Harry," added Hermione. "You're going to need your strength today."

"I"m not hungry," said Harry, sounding almost annoyed.

"That's just nervous talk," said Jo, waving her hand in the air. But Harry gave his sister a deadly stare. "Or not..." Jo said, stuffing her own face with food to avoid the awkwardness.

Today was Harry's first Quidditch match ever. He had been training so hard with Oliver Wood and the rest of the team, with last minute practices almost every day for the last the week. Jo even had to help Harry with his homework because he was beginning to fall behind. But she didn't mind. She was excited to see Harry play and to actually watch a game of Quidditch.

Ron had been telling her a lot about it and she was really interested. Jo even watched a few practices and was intrigued. So she took out a book in the library, _Quidditch Through the Ages_ , and read it cover to cover in her spare time. She liked it so much that she even let Harry borrow it, hoping that it was ease his nerves a bit about the first match. Harry being the Gryffindor Seeker was supposed to be kept quiet, but somehow word got out, which made Harry even more nervous than before. Not to mention all the extra attention he was now getting from everyone.

"Good luck today, Potter," came a voice behind the Potters. It was Snape. "Then again, now that you've proven yourself against a troll, a little game of Quidditch should be easy work for you... Even if it is against Slytherin."

Snape eyed the group up suspiciously. His eyes rested on Jo a half a second longer than the rest. Jo didn't know if the others noticed, but she sure did. And she couldn't understand why. Snape was an excellent Potions professor, but Jo didn't like him much as a person.

Before anyone could say a word, Snape walked away. Well, limped away. Jo watched as he limped on up to the Staff table. "Hey, here's a crazy theory," she said to the other three. "Why do you think Snape's limping?"

Ron shrugged, "Who knows, but I bet you're going to tell us why?"

"I'm guessing Snape let the troll in as a diversion so he could try and get past that 3-headed dog," Jo said rather quickly. "BUT, he got himself bitten. Ergo.. limp."

"But why would anyone go near that dog?" asked Hermione, appalled.

"The day we were at Gringotts..." piped up Harry saddlery, "Hagrid took something out of one of the vaults." Jo smirked at him nodding her head. She knew he'd catch on to her train of thought.

"The very same vault that someone tried to rob right after," added Jo. "Hagrid had said that it was Hogwarts business, very secret."

"So you're saying..." began Hermione.

"That's what the dog's guarding. That's what Snape wants," finished Jo.

The other three sat in silence for a moment while Jo looked wildly around. "Well...?"

"You're right," said Ron, the first to speak. "What a crazy theory."

"It makes sense though, doesn't it?" Jo asked.

"Harry," Oliver Wood was now standing behind them. "Time to go. You ready?"

Jo saw her brother gulp and take a deep breath. He stood up very gingerly. Jo stood up and grabbed his hand quickly. "Harry, you're going to be amazing, you hear?" Harry nodded, giving her a small smile. "Good luck," Jo added, giving him a tight hug.

As the other three made their way down to the Quidditch pitch with the rest of the school, they continued talking about Jo's theory on Snape, the troll, the three-headed dog, and what was being guarded. The more the three talked about it, the more they were beginning to think that it was true.

Now, Jo, Hermione, and Ron were sitting in the Gryffindor section in the stands at the Quidditch Pitch, and thoughts about Snape vanished with the excitement of the match. Flags of gold and yellow were being waved around, people were cheering and chanting. Jo didn't think it could get any louder, but she was wrong. As soon as the Gryffindor and Slytherin Quidditch teams flew out onto the pitch, everyone went nuts, jumping up and down and screaming.

"Excuse me, pardon me... make way," came a gruff voice in the stands. Jo turned to see Hagrid approaching the three. "Alright you three? Where's Harry."

"Hi, Hagrid" said Jo, returning her gaze back to the flyers looking for her brother. She spotted him within seconds. "There he is, up there, just hanging out."

A loud voice came over the speakers. "Hello, and welcome to Hogwarts' first Quidditch game of the season. Today's match - Slytherin versus Gryffindor!" The cheering grew loud again.

Jo saw Madam Hooch step out into the field, walking to the center where a box laid and blew her whistle. The crowd quieted a bit and the players flew towards the center of the pitch, forming a circle above Madam Hooch in the air on their broomsticks.

"I still can't believe there's a sport played on broomsticks," Jo muttered in amazement.

"The players take their positions as Madame Hooch steps out onto the field to begin the game," came the announcers voice, whom Ron had just told everyone that it was Lee Jordan, Fred and George's friend.

"Now I want a nice clean game," said Madam Hooch, looking around at both teams, "from all of you."

"This is so intense," said Jo excitedly.

"JoJo, relax," said Hermione. "The game didn't even start yet."

Madame Hooch kicked open the box in front of her and out came three balls. Two that flew straight up quickly, which Jo knew were the bludgers. They were followed by a tiny, little golden ball with wings, known as the Snitch, the ball Harry had to catch.

"The bludgers are up, followed by the Golden Snitch," announced Lee. "Remember, the Snitch is worth 150 points. The Seeker who catches the Snitch ends the game."

Jo was bouncing up and down. She couldn't wait for this game to get started. Madam Hooch bent over the box and picked up another ball. Jo knew it to be the Quaffle, the ball that the Chasers play with. Madam Hooch threw the ball straight up into the air and Lee shouted across the stadium, "Let the game begin!" The school erupted in cheers.

One of the Gryffindor Chasers snatched the Quaffle and zoomed away from the chaos of the other players. "Angelina Johnson with the Quaffle for Gryffindor," said Lee. Jo watched her closely as she ducked another player and a bludger within seconds of each other. "Wow, she's good," Jo muttered. Then out of nowhere, a Slytherin knocked her through the stands. "Ouch," said Jo. But that didn't stop Angelina. She continued making her way to the Slytherin hoops where the Keeper sat waiting for her.

"Angelina takes the shot, Slytherin Keeper misses... 10 POINTS TO GRYFFINDOR!"

Jo and the others jumped up and down screaming with excitement. "That was awesome!" Jo yelled to Hermione over the cheers. The Gryffindors were going nuts.

"Slytherin takes possession of the Quaffle," Lee started the commentary up again. "Bletchley passes to Captain Marcus Flint. He dodges Johnson and Katie Bell... dodges a bludger sent by George Weasley."

"Stop him!" yelled Jo.

"Captain Flint ducks Alicia Spinnet... he takes aim... shoots and... HE'S BLOCKED BY CAPTAIN OLIVER WOOD!"

"Wooooooooo!" Jo and the other first years cheered.

"Wait a second!" said Lee. "Is that the Snitch?!"

Jo quickly found her brother up in the air. He dove down towards the ground chasing after the Slytherin Seeker. Harry caught up to him, and they were now side by side. "Go Harry!" Jo screamed, "GO!"

Just then, Flint the Captain for Slytherin, rammed right into Harry almost knocking him off his broom. The crowd, along with Jo, booed the Slytherins. "Oh come on," yelled Jo, throwing her hands up in the air.

"That has to be a foul," said Ron with anger.

Madam Hooch awarded the Gryffindors a free shot in which Katie Bell scored. Gryffindor was now leading 20-0. The Snitch was lost again and Jo watched Harry fly around higher than the action, searching for the Snitch yet again.

"He should of been given a red card," said Dean Thomas from behind Jo.

"A red card?" asked Ron confused.

"Soccer, it's a Muggle sport," said Jo. "That's when the player gets thrown out of the game."

"Soccer?" Ron looked perplex.

Jo laughed, "I'll explain it to you later." She was too preoccupied with the Chasers on Gryffindor passing the Quaffle back and forth to each other. It was perfect. They were amazing. They knew exactly where the other person would be, they moved so well.

Then Alicia Spinnet got hit by a bludger, knocking the quaffle from her hands. The Slytherin Chaser caught it and made his way towards the Gryffindor hoops. They took another shot, and again, Oliver Wood blocked it.

"He's pretty good," Jo said, clapping with excitement.

But the excitement disappeared when Jo saw Flint take his beaters' bat and aim a bludger right at Wood. It hit him squarely in the chest, knocking him off his broom and sending him straight to the ground. He landed with a thud and did not move.

"Oh my god," said Hermione, "Is he okay?" The crowd was booing again, except for the Slytherins who cheered and laughed.

"Red card! Red card!" Ron began shouting.

The Slytherins had possession of the quaffle again and with no Keeper to block their shots, before Jo knew it, the Slytherins were in the lead. "Come on Harry," said Jo. "Catch that snitch!"

As if on cue, Harry suddenly took off in a direction. He must of spotted the snitch, Jo thought. As he took off after it, all of a sudden, Harry gave a lurch. Then another one, and then another one. And then his broom was shaking this way and that, as if it were trying to knock Harry off his broom. Jo watched with wide eyes as her brother hung onto his broom for dear life. Harry's broom was out of his control.

"What's going on with Harry's broomstick?" Hagrid asked. By now, everyone in the stands was watching Harry almost being thrown off his broom.

"I can't watch this, I can't watch this," Jo said quickly, covering her eyes with her hands.

"It's Snape," said Hermione suddenly, "He's jinxing the broom!"

Jo's head snapped around, "What?"

"Jinxing the broom?" said Ron worriedly, "What do we do?"

"Leave it to me," said Hermione, and she began moving her way through the Gryffindors. Jo looked up at her brother just in time to see him being flipped over his broomstick, hanging on by his hands.

"Wait, I'm coming with you!" said Jo and she moved after Hermione. She couldn't watch her brother like that, she wouldn't. She had to do something.

Jo and Hermione made their way around the stands to the staff section. Jo looked up real quickly to see her brother still hanging from the broom. Part of her was relieved, the other half still afraid. "Hang on, Harry," Jo muttered more to herself. "We're coming for you."

The girls reached the Staff section of the stands and ducked under the bleachers. Jo's eyes scanned the feet and different robes. "There," she whispered to Hermione, pointing to black shoes, black pants, and a black robe. None of the other staff dressed like Snape. He was an easy find. "Now what?" she asked Hermione, as they stood directly under him.

Hermione pulled out her wand, "I know something," she whispered. Hermione pointed her wand at Snape's rob and said, "Lacarnum Inflamarae." A flame shot out from the tip of Hermione's wand, and instantly Snape's robes caught on fire.

The girls didn't stick around any longer than they had to and took off in the direction they had come. "That should throw Snape off," said Hermione when the girls reached a different section, huffing and puffing from running away.

"Why didn't I think of setting the man on fire?" Jo asked, crouched over.

"Oh, please, he'll be able to put it out in no time," said Hermione in a confident tone, however, her voice told a different story. "It was just enough to stop the jinx."

"Come on, let's see if it worked," said Jo, pushing Hermione onward back to the student section. When they reached an open area that oversaw the Quidditch pitch, Jo looked up at her brother.

Harry was still hanging from the broom, but he was swinging his legs side to side. Jo realized he was trying to pull himself back up, and that was exactly what he did. As soon as Harry was back on his broomstick safe and sound, the girls jumped up and down cheering.

Harry took off after the Slytherin Seeker, who just spotted the Snitch, and the two of them were neck and neck with each other again, racing towards the Snitch. They made a sharp dive, heading straight for the ground.

"They're not stopping," said Hermione worriedly.

The Slytherin Seeker suddenly pulled up as the ground approached, but Harry kept going. He was waiting until the last possible moment. And when he pulled up, feet away from the ground, Harry was balancing on his broomstick on his feet with his arm outstretched reaching for the Snitch.

"Show off," Jo muttered, but she was really impressed with her brother's flying abilities.

Harry was right behind the Snitch now. He took a step forward on his broomstick, which caused him to fly forward, flinging himself off his broom and he rolled several times on the ground. Jo cringed. It was a hard fall in her opinion. But Harry stood back up very quickly. He had his hands over his stomach, looking as if he were about to vomit.

"Looks like he's gonna be sick," said Jo.

Before Jo could say or think anything else, the Snitch popped right out of Harry's mouth and into his very hands. The crowd was silent, confused even.

"He's got the Snitch," rang Lee's voice suddenly. "Harry Potter receives 150 points for catching the Snitch."

Madame Hooch blew her whistle and yelled out, "Gryffindor wins."

And just like that, the crowds went nuts once more, cheering and screaming. Chants of "Go, go Gryffindor," rang around the Quidditch pitch. Jo and Hermione jumped up and down again, screaming. "Harry did it!" yelled Jo with excitement.

After the match and the celebration, the four sat with Hagrid around his table in his hut. Hagrid had just made them all tea. "That was amazing!" Jo exclaimed excitedly. "I've never seen anything like it. Coolest sport I've watched!"

"Nothing on those Muggle sports, huh?" asked Ron.

Jo slammed her hands down on the table and stood up, looking around at the others very seriously. They stared back, confused by her sudden change in behavior. "It's been decided," Jo announced. "Next year, I will try out for the Gryffindor Quidditch team."

Harry and the others laughed. "Great! You'll be amazing. What position?"

"Chaser," Jo said happily, sitting back down. "They see all the action."

"Well hopefully you won't have a broom that acts of its own accord," Harry muttered.

"It was Snape," Ron said and Hermione began filling Harry and Hagrid in on what she saw and what she and Jo had to do. When she finished, Hagrid was shaking his head, "Nonsense," he said, "Why would Snape put a curse on Harry's broom?"

"Who knows?" said Harry.

"What I really want to know is why he's trying to get past that three-headed dog," added Jo.

Hagrid suddenly looked alarmed. "Who told you about Fluffy?" he asked quickly.

"Fluffy" said Ron incredulously.

"That thing has a name?" asked Hermione.

"Well, of course he's got a name," said Hagrid, as if what Hermione asked was insulting. "He's mine. I bought him off an Irish feller I met down at the pub last year. Then I lent him to Dumbledore to guard the..."

"Yes?" Harry and Jo said together, urging Hagrid on.

"Shouldn't have said that. No more questions," said Hagrid. "Don't ask any more questions. That's top secret, that is."

"But, Hagrid," pleaded Jo. "Whatever Fluffy's guarding, Snape's trying to steal it.

"Codswallop," said Hagrid, "Professor Snape is a Hogwarts teacher.

"Hogwarts teacher or not, I know a spell when I see one," said Hermione firmly. "I've read all about them. You've to to keep eye contact, and Snape wasn't blinking."

"Exactly," added Jo, throwing her two sense in.

Hagrid sighed. "Now you listen to me, all four of you." Hagrid looked very seriously at the gang. "You're meddling in things that ought not to be meddled in. It's dangerous. What that dog is guarding is strictly between Professor Dumbledore and Nicholas Flamel."

"Nicholas Flamel?" asked Harry.

Hagrid suddenly looked nervous. "I shouldn't have said. I should not have said that." He stood up quickly and walked out of his hut to his garden patch, still repeating he shouldn't have said anything, leaving the gang inside his hut alone.

"Nicolas Flamel," Harry repeated again, as if he knew the person.

"Who's Nicolas Flamel?" Jo asked out loud.

Hermione shrugged, "I don't know," and Ron just looked more confused.

The ganged continued to watch Hagrid being furious with himself in his garden, all the while wondering who this Nicholas Flamel person really was and what he and Dumbledore were hiding.


	13. Chapter 12

Things had settled down a bit over the next couple months as Christmas approached. The theory about Snape had to be put aside as the gang focused on other things, like their studies and who Nicholas Flamel was, but most importantly, the Christmas Holiday that was right around the corner. And now that there was snow on the ground, the holiday break was all anyone was thinking about these days.

They were currently in their Potions class, reviewing potions they had already worked on the first part of the school year. Jo was rubbing her hands together quickly, trying to keep them warm. Having their class in the dungeons during colder weather wasn't something Jo was too thrilled about.

"Must be sad," said Draco, during class out loud to the Slytherins, and loud enough for the gang to hear him, "for the ones that can't go home for Christmas and have to stay here, having no family to go home to." Jo knew he was talking about her and her brother, and she ignored him. Malfoy was still having a hard time swallowing that defeat from Gryffindor. He tormented Harry more than Jo, but occasionally he'd throw a jab in at the two of them.

"Honestly," Jo said to the others quietly, "I'm excited about spending Christmas here." She moved her hands up and down weighing her options. "Spending Christmas here with magic and amazing food or spending Christmas with the Dursleys and be forced to scrub the toilet and get a beat down?"

"A what down?" asked Hermione quickly, giving Jo a sharp look.

Shoot, Jo mentally kicked herself in the be-hind. What a stupid thing to say. Jo still hadn't been completely honest with Hermione about her life with the Dursleys. It wasn't that she didn't trust Hermione or anything, it just wasn't something she wanted to think about too often. "You're right... Christmas here is definitely better," Jo said quickly and went back to her potion making without another word.

She looked up when she felt a pair of eyes on her. It was Harry. He gave her a reassuring smile. Jo knew Harry felt the same way. They didn't mind not having a 'proper' family to go home to for Christmas. They had each other and that was all they needed. They'd be spend Christmas at Hogwarts together and that was that. Jo didn't feel sad about it at all. It will probably be the best Christmas either she or Harry has ever had and she was looking forward to it.

After Potions, the gang walked out into the corridor almost running into a very large tree.

"Now how did that get in here?" Ron pondered.

Jo pointed past the branches that were sticking out on all ends, "Hagrid, that's how." Hagrid was pulling a big Christmas tree down the corridor.

"Hi, Hagrid," said Hermione. "Do you need us to help?"

"No, no not at all," came Hagrid's voice from the other side of the tree. "I can manage it myself."

"Would you move out of my way," demanded a voice from behind the group. Malfoy pushed himself in between Jo and Ron, knocking Jo down on top of the tree.

"Ouch," said Jo, grimacing when she landed on a branch. Both Harry and Ron made a dive at Malfoy, who ran away as fast as he could.

"POTTER! WEASLEY!" It was Snape.

"Professor," pipped on Hermione right away. "Malfoy pushed JoJo into the tree."

Snape watched Harry help Jo back onto her feet. "I don't remember seeing that. I only saw Potter and Weasley fighting. Five points each from Gryffindor." Ron looked like he was about to argue, but Hermione kicked him, silencing him.

"Miss Potter," Snape said suddenly. "Are you hurt?"

Jo was shocked. She wasn't prepared for Snape to ask if she was okay. It took her a moment before responding, "N-No, sir." As soon as the words left Jo's mouth, Snape turned around and went back into his classroom, slamming the door shut behind him. The four stood there starring at the closed door feeling confused.

"That was..." Jo began, lost for words.

"Strange," finished Hermione.

"Still hate him," muttered Ron.

"And Malfoy," added Harry.

"Oh, come on you guys," Jo said, clapping her hands together, "don't let the big bad Slytherins get you down. It's almost the Holiday!"

"Just a day away now, isn't it?" said Hagrid, suddenly standing behind the gang. They all jumped, forgetting he was there.

"Yup," said Jo. "Just one more day left in the library."

"Oh come on, it's the holiday. The library can wait," said Hagrid.

"No it can't," said Hermione. "We're searching for Nicholas Flamel."

"W-what-you-Nick-searching?" Hagrid spitted out in shock. "You have to stop. Drop it, you hear?"

Harry shrugged, "We only want to know who this Flamel guy is, that's all, Hagrid."

"But you could help us out a bit and just tell us who he is and what he does," added Jo hopefully. Hagrid stared at the four for a moment and then walked away without saying a word, pulling the very large tree behind him.

Ever since Hagrid had mentioned Nicholas Flamel, the four have been spending extra time in the library, pouring over book after book looking for Flamel. So far, they had no such luck. They didn't know anything about the guy, so trying to find anything about him was pretty impossible. Not to mention now Madame Prince, the librarian, was suspicious about them being in the library all the time. Not many first years spend their extra time before the holidays with piles of books in front of them. The gang left the library with their spirits down after having no luck and went to lunch.

It was now officially the start of the holiday break and Jo was walking down to the Great Hall with Hermione so that she could say goodbye to Harry. They spotted Harry sitting at the Gryffindor table across from Ron.

"Why is Ron still here?" Jo asked. The girls walked over to the boys who were playing chess.

"Knight to E-5," said Harry, once Jo sat down next to him. Jo watched his chess piece move across the board on its own.

Ron looked down at the board very seriously. Then he smirked. "Queen to E-5." Ron's Queen piece moved forward towards Harry's Knight. When it stopped right in front of the Knight, the Queen stood up out of her chair, picked the chair up, and smashed Harry's Knight into two halves.

"Whoa... cool," said Jo. This was so much more entertaining than Muggle chess.

"That's totally barbaric," Hermione said in shock.

"That's wizard's chess," said Ron. "I see you've packed."

"See you haven't," Hermione shot back quickly.

"Change of plans. My parents decided to go to Romania to visit my brother Charlie. He's studying dragons there," said Ron.

"Good," said Hermione. "Now you can help Harry and JoJo. They're going to go look in the library for information on Nicholas Flamel..."

Ron groaned. "We've looked a hundred times."

Hermione leaned down over the table and whispered, "Not in the Restricted Section." Then she straightened up and smiled at them all. "Happy Christmas," she said and walked away with her suitcase.

"Wait, what?" said Jo quickly.

"I think we've had a bad influence on her," muttered Ron and Harry nodded in agreement.

Jo quickly ran after Hermione. "Restricted Section? Are you serious? We could get into so much trouble."

"Come on JoJo, you sound like me," laughed Hermione. "I thought you'd be up for the adventure."

"Well, I didn't say I wasn't up for it," muttered Jo. "Just that we could get in trouble."

Hermione laughed, "You'll be fine. And here..." she handed Jo a piece of parchment. "It's a list of books we haven't looked though yet. Promise me you'll keep on looking."

Jo nodded, "I promise." The girls then gave each other a tight hug. "Happy Christmas," Hermione said again. "Happy Christmas," said Jo. And then Hermione was out the front doors with the rest of the students leaving for the holiday.

For the first couple days of the break, Jo was very serious at trying to find books about Flamel, especially from the list Hermione had left her. But once she made her way over to the Restricted Section and tried opening the door, Madame Hooch caught her and banned her from the library until the next term started.

When it was Christmas Eve, Jo was looking forward to the next day. This would be a Christmas for her and Harry to remember. The food, the fun, and just being around Ron and his family, and everyone else that stayed for the holiday. It would sort of be the Potter's first Christmas experience in a way, since the Dursleys never included them in any of the Christmas celebrations, or gave them presents.

Jo was the only girl in her dormitory, which she didn't mind at all. Having the room to herself had been a new experience for her, one that she was enjoying. When she awoke Christmas morning with a small pile of packages at the foot of her bed, she swooped them up excitedly and ran to her brother's dormitory.

"Harry," she announced herself loudly. "We've got presents!" She ran over to Harry's bed, dropping her presents down and plopped down next to her brother. "Oh, and Happy Christmas."

"You, too," said Harry excitedly. "Wow I can't believe this."

"What?" asked Ron sleepily, getting himself up. "Haven't you gotten presents before?"

The twins didn't answer, and luckily for them, Ron was too tired to realize anything.

"Happy Christmas, Ron," Jo finally said and started picking up one of her packages.

The first package was from Hagrid. It was a small roughly cut wooden flute. Hand made by Hagrid by the looks of it. Jo blew into the flute and it made the most beautiful sound she had ever heard. That was so sweet of Hagrid. Hagrid had given Harry a toy golden snitch, that once released, flew around the boys room. They watched it for a moment before returning back to their gifts.

The next package was an envelope from the Dursleys. Inside was a small note, letting Jo know they received her message and had a Christmas gift attached.

"What message?" Harry asked.

"I just told them we were at Hogwarts and when we'd be returning to King's Cross," Jo said simply. "I didn't think they'd actually respond. Or give a gift... which happens to be a toothpick." Harry took the toothpick out of Jo's hand and threw it in the trash. And that was that.

"Who else did we get presents from?" Jo asked curiously. Hagrid was their friend, and the Dursleys were family. There wasn't a lot of people on their list of gift giving.

"I knew who gave you those ones," said Ron suddenly, pointing to the identical lumpy packages the twins were holding. "It's from my mom," he explained. "I told her I didn't think you two really had a proper Christmas with presents, and well... go on and open it, you'll see."

The twins tore open their packages at the same time to find a hand-knitted seater. Jo lifted hers up in front of her. It was navy blue with a gold J on the front. Jo looked over at Harry's. His was emerald green with a gold H.

"Mine is always maroon," muttered Ron, unwrapping his.

"I love it," said Jo happily, pulling hers on. It was the perfect size. The next gift Jo received was from Hermione. It was candy, lots and lots of candy. "She knows me so well," said Jo, tearing a box open and eating away.

"Happy Christmas, JoJo," said Harry, handing her card. Jo smiled. Just because we were at Hogwarts now, Harry didn't forget. And she didn't either. She reached into her shower rob pocket and pulled out her card for Harry.

Every Christmas, the two would make a card for the other. It wasn't much, but it was just enough for the pair of them to make it through the holidays. "Happy Christmas, Harry," said Jo. "I love it."

Jo picked up the wrappers on Harry's bed to clean up. "Hey," said Harry, when she cleared the last one, "there's one more package." It was hidden under the wrappings and they didn't see it until now. Harry picked it up. "It's addressed to the both of us."

Jo dropped the wrappings she held and sat down next to Harry on the bed. "Open it."

Harry nodded and tore open the package. As he did, a note fell to the floor. Jo picked it up quickly and began reading, "Your father left this in my possession before he died. It is time it was returned to the both of you. Use it well." Jo reread the note again. "Strange, no one signed it."

"Whoa!" Ron gasped suddenly, making Jo look up and her jaw dropped. Harry was standing in front of her, but she only saw his head.

"That is really freak," she said, "Harry, your body is gone!"

"What?" Harry asked, looking down. Then he jumped back, as if his body would reappear again and he spun around. "It is gone!"

"I know what that is," said Ron, standing up and walking over to Harry. "That's an invisibility cloak."

"I'm invisible," said Harry, in disbelief. Then he looked over at Jo, "Who's it from again?"

Jo shook her head, "I don't know," she said, "There was no name. It just said... 'use it well'."

"I wonder who gave it to you," said Ron.

So did Jo. Who would have an invisibility cloak that once belonged to their father. And why would they give it to them now and not tell them who it was from. It didn't make since to Jo. But before she could think any more on the matter, Fred and George bounded in to the dormitory. Jo saw Harry quickly hide the cloak out of sight from the twins.

"Happy Christmas," the Weasley twins said in unison.

"What's this?" said Fred suddenly, "Harry and JoJo have Weasley sweaters too?"

"There's look so much better than ours," said George. He and George both had a navy blue sweater as well.

Jo looked down at hers, "But ours are the same colors..."

Jo had the best Christmas day of her life. Not only did she and Harry receive presents for the first time, but they spent the day with the Weasleys, and felt, for the first time ever, what it felt like to spend the holidays with a family. Majority of the morning was spent in the Gryffindor Common Room, playing some games, followed by an afternoon out on the grounds in the snow having a snowball fight. They returned to the Gryffindor Common Room a short time before dinner to warm up by the fires. And then Jo attended the most delicious feast of her life.

After the fun and feast, Jo returned to her dormitory feeling extra sleepy and full from the meal. She watched Harry and Ron play another round of wizard's chess as her eye lids got heavier and heavier, and soon she was sound asleep on the chair next to the fire.

Jo felt herself being shook gently. She yawned and sat up, blinking her eyes a couple times. The fire was now completely burned out and it was much darker in the common room. Jo rubbed her eyes quickly and looked around. Harry was standing in front of her holding the invisibility cloak.

"I couldn't sleep," he told her. "Want to give it a go?" He lift the cloak up.

"Okay," said Jo and she stood up. Harry covered the two of them with the cloak.

They stepped out into the corridor and Jo's heart was racing. She had been down this corridor hundreds of times by now, but the fact that they were out of their beds and walking around the castle at night had Jo's heart beating a mile minute.

"So," whispered Harry, "where should we go?"

Jo looked at Harry. It was an interesting question. They could go anywhere and nobody would know. But then a thought came to her. Flamel.

"Well," Jo began, "Madame Prince won't know we've been in the Restricted Section..."

And Harry smiled, "Library it is."

When the entered the library, it was pitch black, except for the patches of where the moon shone through the windows, casting shadows. It creeped Jo out a bit. They walked slowly to the end of the library. There, the door stood that said "Restricted Section". Harry pulled the lock back and opened the door. The door creaked, echoing thought the library.

Jo stepped out from behind the cloak. Nothing was where she knew Harry to be standing. "So weird..." she murmured. "I'll take this section, and you take that one." If Harry nodded or gave any sign of understanding, she never knew, seeing how she couldn't see him.

There was a lamp sitting on the window sill. Jo lit the lamp and picked a random row of books reading the titles. "Famous Fire-Eaters. 15th-Century Fiends. Flamel... Flamel... Where is Nicholas Flamel." Jo picked up a book titled, 'Moste Potente Potions'. She opened it up to a random page to a potion called 'Polyjuice Potion'. "Allows a human drinker to temporarily assume the form of another person'... Interesting," Jo whispered to herself.

A loud shriek made Jo jump, slamming the book shut and putting it back in its place. She ran towards the shriek, leaving the lamp behind her. She found Harry slamming a book shut, silencing the yell.

"Are you kidding me?" Jo whispered urgently. "You just had to pick a book that yells?!"

Harry looked around nervously, "How was I supposed to know it was going to do that?" Jo rolled her eyes. Leave it to her brother to wake up the entire castle.

"Who's there?" It was Filch's voice.

Jo and Harry looked at each other with wide eyes. "Quick put the cloak on," Jo whispered, and Harry snatched the cloak and put over the two of them, making them invisible.

"I know you're in there." Filch's voice was louder, just outside the library doors. "You can't hide." The library doors opened. Jo and Harry moved very quietly under the cloak up agains the closest book shelf just as Filch entered the library. "Who is it?" Filch called out. "Show yourself." He walked into the library walking right passed the twins. Jo realized as he passed by, she was holding her breath and her heart was racing like crazy for the second time that night. When Filch had walked further into the library, Harry pulled Jo's arm and led the way back out into the corridor.

"Where are we going?" Jo whispered when she got her composure back.

"Anywhere but here," Harry whispered back, turning down a random corridor. Wrong turn. Mrs. Norris, Filch's cat was right there. She meowed looking straight at them, like she could see them.

"Do you think she can...?" Jo began.

"I don't know," said Harry quickly, "but lets go this way." Harry led the way down another corridor away from Mrs. Norris. And when they turned the next corner, the twins stopped dead in their tracks.

Snape was there, pushing Quirrell up agains the wall, his hands on his robes. "Severus, I..I" studded Quirrell.

"You don't want me as your enemy, Quirrell," said Snape.

"Wh-what do y-you mean?"

"You know perfectly well what I mean."

Quirrell looked frightened, as did Jo felt. Harry again pulled Jo forward to pass the two professors quietly. But suddenly, Snape's head snapped in their direction. Jo quickly placed her hand over her mouth, to quiet her breathing, and Harry did the same thing and they continued walking away.

Snape turned back to Quirrell, "We'll have another little chat soon, when you've had time to decide where your loyalties lie."

Just then, Filch came down the corridor the twins had just come from, carrying the lit lamp Jo used in the library. Oh no, Jo thought.

"Oh. Professors," said Filch, "I found this in the Restricted Section, still lit. That means there's a student out of bed." The three adults looked at each other and then went back down the corridor towards the library.

Harry motioned for Jo to follow him and led her through the closest door. Good idea, thought Jo, better get out of the corridors now and lie low. Even though they had the cloak, Jo still felt a little uneasy to be walking down the halls now that Snape, Filch, and Quirrell were on the look out.

Harry opened the door just wide enough for the twins to squeeze through. It was an unused classroom, Jo noticed. Desks and chairs were pushed up against the walls. But up against the wall across for the twins, was a very large mirror looking very out of place. "Harry, look."

The twins walked over to it together, slowly. When they stood right in front of it, Harry pulled the cloak off. The twins stared at it for a little bit, confused as to why it was here. At the top of the mirror, Jo noticed an inscription: Erised stra ehru oyt ube carfru oyt on wohsi. She had no idea what that could possibly mean.

Jo then looked into the mirror. At first, she saw herself and Harry, standing side by side looking small. And then suddenly, two figures started to form behind the twins. Jo took a step closer to the mirror. The figures were started to becoming clearer. She took a couple more steps, standing right in front of the mirror, almost touching it. Harry was still by her side.

Jo looked at the two figures standing behind her closely, then gave a gasp. Her heart stopped. She turned to look behind her, and saw nothing. She looked back at the mirror, and the two people were still standing behind her.

It was a man and a woman. The man was tall with dark hair and round glasses. The woman slightly smaller, with long auburn hair, a few shades darker than Jo's hair. Jo felt her breathing pick up as she stared at the man and woman. She knew them.

"Mom?" Harry asked suddenly, breaking the silence. "Dad?" They both smiled and nodded their heads.

Jo felt her checks get wet. There were tears coming down and she didn't even realize it. Jo placed her hand on the mirror, reaching out for her mother. Her mother looked sad for a moment, and placed a hand on Jo's shoulder. Jo looked down at her shoulder, but didn't see a hand, though when she looked back in the mirror, her mother's hand was firmly on her shoulder. It took everything Jo had not to break down and sob. Harry grabbed a hold of Jo's hand and squeezed it tightly. Jo looked over at her brother and saw that he too was crying, a sight Jo had rarely ever saw.

Jo looked back at her parents, taking in their image. It was the first time she had ever seen what they looked like. The Dursleys had no pictures of them, so Jo was left to her imagination. And this, this was so much better than what she had imagined.

Jo realized that her mother was very beautiful. Jo inherited her red hair, and now Jo just realized, her green eyes. They were the very same. The more Jo looked at her mother, the more she saw of herself. Then Jo looked at her father. He was tall and thin with black hair that stuck up in all directions, just like Harry's. He also had the same round glasses that Harry wore. Harry looked just like him, except for the eyes.

How long the two stood there, Jo did not know. Nor could understand what she was feeling. She felt so many powerful emotions and was torn between sadness and happiness, and a terrible ache of longing.

Jo heard an owl hoot in the distant, bringing her back to her sense. "We can't stay here, Harry," Jo reluctantly said. "We have to go to bed."

Harry nodded, grudgingly tearing his eyes away from the mirror. He picked up the cloak again and covered the two of them. The twins then walked away from the mirror and out into the corridor. They walked back to the Gryffindor Common Room in silence, but trying digest what they just saw.

The next morning, Harry found Jo sitting by the fire reading a book. She was trying not to think about the mirror and seeing her parents. Although she very much wanted to go back.

"I took Ron to see the mirror last night," Harry said, sitting down next to his sister.

Jo closed her book and sat up. "You did what?" she said. "Last night? After I told you we had to go to bed."

"What, I couldn't sleep after that," said Harry. Jo sighed. "Anyway," Harry continued, "Ron didn't see our parents. He saw something completely different..."

Jo sat up and looked at her brother seriously. "Harry," she said, "as much as I don't want to do what I am about to say, I have to. We have to. We can't go back to that mirror." Harry made an attempt to say something, but Jo kept going. "I've been thinking about it all day and night, and it's not healthy. The mirror isn't going to bring them back, Harry. It was great to see them, but we can't talk to them, we can't touch them. They're gone and nothing is going to change that." It hurt Jo to say that, but she had to see it out loud for herself, and for her brother. "Please tell me you won't go back."

Harry didn't answer for a moment, but then nodded his head. But for some reason, Jo didn't fully believe him. So later that night, Jo pushed one of the red chairs in front of the portrait hole and set up camp there for the night with a book in hand. As the night went on, Jo suddenly felt like she wasn't alone. "Come on out, Harry," she said.

Jo heard a sigh and then suddenly her brother appeared right in front of her.

"How'd you know I was here?"

"You're my twin, Harry," Jo said closing her book. "I have a sixth sense when it comes to you. So where do you think you're going?"

"Do you really have to ask?" Harry said bitterly.

Jo looked at Harry for a long while and sighed, "Fine. Just one more time. And that's it, okay?"

Harry suddenly smiled, "Deal, one last time."

Harry led the way to the mirror again under the cloak. They sat down in front of the mirror and stared up at their parents. Jo looked at the four of them and began wondering what it would be like if the Potter family were all together still.

"Back again, are we?"

The twins jumped up on their feet at once. Dumbledore was with them, looking at them intently. "I see that you, like so many before you, have discovered the delights of the Mirror of Erised. I trust by now you realize what it does." Dumbledore walked towards the twins. "Let me give you a clue. The happiest man, or woman, on earth would look into the mirror and see only him or herself exactly as they are."

"So then it shows us what we want?" asked Jo. "Whatever we want."

"Yes... and no," answered Dumbledore. "It shows us nothing more or less than the deepest and most desperate desires of our hearts. Now you two, who have never known your parents, you see them standing beside the two of you."

"But remember this- The mirror gives us neither knowledge or truth. People have wasted away in front of it, even gone mad. That is why it will be moved in the morning to a new home."

"Professor-" Harry began, but Dumbledore held up a hand.

"And I must ask you," continued Dumbledore, "not to go looking for it again." Dumbledore sounded serious. "It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live."

The twins nodded their understanding.

"Good," said Professor Dumbledore. "Now, why don't you put that cloak back on and head off to bed."

Jo looked at Dumbledore curiously, wondering how it was that he knew about the cloak. Then again, it was Dumbledore, and Jo found him to be rather peculiar at times.

When they returned back to the common room, Harry turned to Jo. "You were right, about the mirror." Jo didn't say anything. "I may have gotten a little obsessive over it and the idea of seeing our parents again. But you were right, they won't come back."

Jo gave her brother a hug. "But you know who will always come back to you? Me."


	14. Chapter 13

Jo completely agreed with Dumbledore about never going to look for the mirror again. The twins decided to let Jo hold onto the cloak for the moment because Harry would be tempted to use it otherwise. For the rest of Christmas break, Jo kept the invisibility cloak at the bottom of her trunk under all of her other belongings.

Even though she didn't go looking for the mirror, Jo couldn't stop thinking about it and she knew Harry was too. A couple nights after Dumbledore's warning, Jo started having nightmares. The very same nightmare she had before coming to Hogwarts. The one with the man with the high pitched voice and a woman pleading with him before being killed by a flash of green night. She had told Harry that her dreams came back and to her surprise, Harry said he now had been having similar dreams. Jo didn't know what to make of it. A small part of her wanted to put the pieces together, but instead, she repressed those thoughts into the back of her mind, not wanting to think about what those dreams could mean.

Hermione didn't return back to school until the day before the term started. Jo gave her all the details, catching her up to speed. She had to laugh when Hermione's only major concern was the fact that Harry and Jo were out of bed in the middle of the night. She was too, however, slightly disappointed that the twins didn't find anything on Flamel. But once term had begun again, Hermione had the others skimming more books in the library again.

Jo, Ron, and Hermione were sitting in the Gryffindor Common room one evening. Jo was finishing an essay she had gotten an early start on while Ron had challenged Hermione to a chess match. Harry had just entered the common room all muddy and wet in his quidditch gear. He looked absolutely miserable.

"What's wrong, Harry?" Jo asked, as Harry sat down in front of the fireplace. "Bad practice?"

"More like bad news," he said in a depressed tone.

"Do explain," said Jo, putting her quill down.

"One moment, please," said Ron, not looking up at Harry. "I need to concentrate." He moved one of his pieces that destroyed Hermione's piece in one blow. Jo knew Ron loved playing Hermione in chess. It was probably one of the only things she wasn't good at. "Okay, so what news?" Ron asked, after his play. "Wow, you look horrible."

Harry sighed. "Snape's refereeing our next match."

"Break you arm," said Jo at once.

"Or both your arms," said Ron.

"You can't play!" added Hermione.

"But I have to play," Harry said miserably. "There's no one else to take my place if I don't play. And if I don't play, then Gryffindor can't play. And if Gryffindor can't play, we're done."

Harry was right, Jo thought. He had to play. But she couldn't believe that Dumbledore would allow the man who jinxed her brother's broom to ref the match. Of course, she told herself, nobody but those four and Hagrid knew, although Hagrid didn't believe them. She was nervous for her brother. Snape, he could do anything to Harry now.

They sat in silence for a moment. Then Ron coughed. "Well, it's been nice knowing you mate."

The next day in their Defense Against the Dark Arts class, Harry announced to the others, "I'm going to play. You've heard the Slytherins today. If I don't play, everyone will think I'm scared of Snape. I'll never hear the end of it."

Jo knew Harry was saying it more for himself than for the others. "That's the spirit, Harry," she said. "We'll have your back." She still didn't like the idea of Harry being on the pitch with Snape around, but what could she do to stop it. Snape was a professor and she was just a little first year. But as the match grew closer, Jo couldn't help but feel scared for her brother. Snape was already horrible to Harry in lessons, she didn't want to imagine what he'd be like on the quidditch pitch, especially after what happened at Harry's first match. The gang still had not been able to figure out why Snape had jinxed Harry, other than the fact that he seems to extremely despise him.

On the day of the match, Jo and the others wished Harry good luck before going out into the stands. "Just stay on your broom this time, okay Harry?" Jo said, giving her brother a tight hug. "Or just find the snitch really quick."

Harry nodded and bid the others goodbye. It almost seemed like he thought he'd never see them again.

The three found seats right in the front of the Gryffindor section. Jo drew her wand out, tapping it on her leg. "I don't like this at all," she said. Snape had just walked out onto the pitch. "I really don't like this."

"I know," said Hermione. "We just have to keep an extra eye on him."

"I've been studying extra jinxes, just in case. You don't think he'll do something, do you?" Jo asked Hermione and Ron. She was trying to keep herself together. Jo had done well so far, but now that they were at the match and she was watching Snape closely, she couldn't help herself from feeling scared. Her breathing was picking up again. Not now, she told herself, and counted down quickly from 5 taking a deep breath.

"Not with Dumbledore around," Ron suddenly said.

"What?" Jo and Hermione said together. Ron pointed to the teachers stand. Jo's eyes found Dumbledore in seconds with his longer silvery beard shinning in the sunlight. Dumbledore's here, she thought to herself, that's a good thing, maybe he's suspicious too. Harry had to be safe now.

"That's good then, isn't it?" asked Hermione.

"It does make me feel better seeing him here," Jo admitted.

"Maybe that's why Snape looks like he stepped on a pile of dung," said Ron. "He looks angry about something."

Jo looked over at Snape as he mounted his broom. Ron was right, Snape did look pissed off about something. Jo had never seen him look so mad before, even after all the times he yelled at her brother or Neville in Potions class.

Then the match had begun. Jo's nerves were at an all time high. "Okay, I'll watch Harry. Hermione, you keep an eye on Snape. Ron... watch the match."

"Okay," said Hermione very seriously.

"Wait," said Ron. "You just want me to watch the match? That's it?"

"Well I need someone to tell me how the games going," said Jo, watching Harry circling around the stadium searching for the snitch. "Didn't think you'd object to that."

Ron thought about it for a moment and then said, "I can do that."

The Gryffindors were booing. "Aw come on," said Ron.

"What's happening?" Jo asked quickly. "This is where you come in, Ronald."

"Snape just gave Hufflepuff a penalty because George aimed his bludger at Snape," said Ron. Jo had to laugh. Of course one of the Weasley twins would do that.

"Harry!" Jo suddenly exclaimed a moment later. Her brother had just made a sudden dive and he dove to the ground like a bolt of lightning. He streaked toward the ground, going as fast as Jo had ever seen Harry fly before, narrowing missing Snape on the way, who looked even angrier after this. "He's going to catch it!" Jo said excitedly. "He's going to catch the snitch!" Seconds later, Harry pulled up from his dive with one arm held in the air in triumph, his hand enclosed over a golden ball. He had caught the snitch.

The stands erupted with cheers instantly. Harry had caught the snitch so quickly, that people believed it had to be the fastest record in Hogwarts quidditch history.

Jo and Hermione were jumping up and down in each others' arms cheering. Harry had done it! He ended the match, managed to stay on his broom, and didn't get jinxed! All that worrying and preparing for nothing. Snape didn't stand a chance of doing anything after that performance. Jo was so relieved, it felt like the weight on her shoulders had lifted. She watched as Snape landed on the ground and walked out of the quidditch pitch looking even angrier than before.

After that match, the gang still remained suspicious of Snape, but all was quiet on that front. And as the months passed by with the end of the school year approaching, Jo had completely given up hope on finding anything about Nicholas Flamel. It was like the guys didn't exist. Jo was finding herself worrying more about school than what was hiding under that trap door guarded by Fluffy.

The gang was sitting in the Great Hall with many other students during a study hall going over their notes. Their professors were piling more work on them as the end of term came closer, preparing the first years for the final exams, something Jo was very excited about and also was dreading. She was studying as much as she could, going over everything she had learned in the past year.

"Look at you, playing with your cards. Completely pathetic!" Hermione suddenly said. Jo looked up. Hermione was taking to Ron who sat with his book open with playing cards on top.

Jo and Harry smirked at each other. "Round 598," Jo whispered across the table to Harry.

"We've got final exams coming up soon," said Hermione, ignoring Jo's comment, "and you're playing cards."

Ron threw his cards down, "I'm ready," he said. "Ask me any question."

"Alright," said Hermione, folding her arms. "What are the three must crucial ingredients in a Forgetfulness Potion?"

Jo raised her hand, "Pick me, pick me!" she said. Harry laughed.

"I forgot," Ron muttered.

"And what, may I ask, do you plan to do if this comes up on the final exam?" asked Hermione, raising an eyebrow.

"Copy off you?" sneered Ron, picking his cards back up

"No you won't," Hermione snapped back.

"Fine then, I'll look off of Jo's."

"Yeah good luck with that," Jo said.

"Besides," added Hermione. "According to Professor McGonagall, we're to be given special quills bewitched with an anti-cheating spell."

"That's insulting," Ron exclaimed. "It's if they don't trust us!" Then he threw a card down on the table, "Ugh, I've got Dumbledore again."

Harry picked the card up while Hermione and Jo went back to their notebooks. Just then, laughter was coming from a few spaces down from the gang. It didn't take Jo long to find out why. Neville was hopping up along the Gryffindor table. His legs were stuck together. He hopped all the way up to where the gang sat. "Leg Locker Curse," said Ron. "It has to be-"

"Malfoy," said Jo and Harry together.

"You have got to start standing up to people, Neville," said Ron.

"How?" asked Neville after he got his breath back, his balance all over the place. "I can barely stand at all."

"I'll do the counter curse," said Seamus suddenly standing up with his wand at the ready excitedly.

Neville suddenly looked nervous. "No, that's all I need, you to set my bloody kneecaps on fire."

Seamus slammed his wand onto the table. "I don't appreciate the insinuation, Longbottom. Besides, if anyone cared to notice, my eyebrows have completely grown back!" Seamus picked his wand back up and turned around stalking off angrily, showing a large chunk of hair missing from the back of his head.

"So that's how they grew back," Jo said out loud. The others laughed.

"I'll help you, Neville," said Hermione and she undid the leg locker jinx. Neville was now able to stand on both legs normally. He said his thanks to Hermione and left the gang.

"I found him!" Harry said suddenly, getting the others attention. He handed Ron's Dumbledore card over to Jo.

Jo looked looked down at the small paragraph written on the back of the card and read it out loud. "Dumbledore is particular famous for defeating the Dark Wizard Grindelwald in 1945..."

"Go on," Harry urged her excitedly.

"...for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicholas Flamel." They all gasped.

"I knew the name sounded familiar," Harry said, looking around at the others. "I read it on the train that day, coming to Hogwarts."

Jo remembered her trip to Hogwarts on the train with Harry and Ron. Harry had Dumbledore's Chocolate frog card. Jo had asked to see it because she wanted to see Dumbledore but he had gone from the picture. She didn't even think about reading the back of the card.

Hermione slammed her books quickly, "Follow me," she said urgently. They others grabbed their books and ran after Hermione out of the Great Hall.

Jo, Harry, and Ron were sitting at a table, waiting for Hermione to return to them. She came around the corner from one of the book shelves with a very large book in her hand. "I had you looking in the wrong section. How could I be so stupid?" she said, slamming the book down on the table in front of the others. "I checked this out weeks ago for a bit of light reading."

"This, is light?" asked Ron with eyebrows raised. Jo kicked him under the table.

"Ouch."

Hermione opened the book up to the right page. "Of course, here it is!" she said and then began reading. "Nicholas Flamel is the only known maker of the Sorcerer's Stone."

"The what?" The boys said together.

"It's disappointing you don't know what that is," Jo muttered. Harry shot her a look.

"Honestly, don't you two read?" said Hermione, then continued reading. "The Sorcerer's Stone is a legendary substance with astonishing powers. It can transform any metal into pure gold and produces the elixir of life, which will make the drinker immortal."

"Immortal?" asked Ron.

"It means you'll never die," said Jo.

"I know what it means," Ron shot back quickly.

"Shh!" Harry shushed him.

Hermione continued, "The only stone currently in existence belongs to Mr. Nicholas Flamel, the noted alchemist, who last year celebrated his 665th birthday."

"Whoa," said Harry.

"That's it then, isn't it?" Jo said. "That's what fluffy's guarding on the third floor. That's what's under the trapdoor- the Sorcerer's Stone."

The gang looked around at each other with satisfaction. They had figured it out. Hagrid had taken the stone out of Gringotts on the twins' birthday to bring back to Hogwarts where it was to be hidden under the trap door and guarded by Fluffy. On Halloween night, Snape tried to get in by setting the troll loose as a diversion, but Fluffy bit him, and Snape had failed to steal it yet again. But one question popped up in Jo's mind: What is Snape going to use the stone for?

* * *

Pretty short chapter this time sorry :\ anyways... I will try to get the next one up on Sunday if I can, but I do have a lot going on this weekend so I'm not sure if I'll be able to and if that's the case, next chapter won't be up until next Thursday. In the meantime, hope you've all been enjoying it so far (: have a wonderful weekend.


	15. Chapter 14

Later that evening, the gang decided to go to Hagrid's to tell him about their findings. After months and months of trying to figure out who Nicholas Flamel was, they had finally done it. And now Hagrid was the only one they could go to about their discovery. Night had fallen as the four ran across the wet grounds of Hogwarts on their way to Hagrid's.

Jo was the first to reach the door. She banged on it loudly and within seconds, Hagrid had opened the door wearing a kitchen apron and kitchen mittens. "Hagrid."

"Oh, hello." Hagrid greeted the gang. "Sorry, don't wish to be rude, but I'm in no fit state to entertain today." He pulled the door closed.

The gang all said at once, "We know about the Sorcerer's Stone!" just before the door closed completely.

Hagrid pushed the door back open and said "Oh," then turned back into his hut, the gang following him in. Ron closed the door closed behind them.

They came in, taking their cloaks off. "We think Snape's trying to steal it," Harry started off.

"Snape? Blimey, you're not still on about him, are you?" Hagrid asked, moving over to the fireplace, his back to the group.

The four moved over to sit at the kitchen table. "Hagrid, we know he's after the stone," Jo said.

"We just don't know why," Hermione added.

Hagrid shook his head turning to face them. "Snape is one of the teachers protecting the stone. He's not about to steal it."

"What?" Harry and Ron said together.

"You heard," answered Hagrid. "Right. Come on now. I'm a bit preoccupied today."

"Wait a minute," said Harry suddenly. "One of the teachers?"

"Of course! There are other things defending the stone aren't there?" asked Hermione excitedly. "Spells. Enchantments."

"That's right. Waste of bloody time, if you ask me. Ain't no one gonna get past Fluffy," said Hagrid giving a chuckle. "Ain't a soul knows how, except for me and Dumbledore... I should't have told you that."

"Hagrid, it's us you're talking to," Jo said sympathetically. "We would have figured it out sooner or later anyway."

Just then, the pot over the fire was rattling. The four looked over at it curiously as Hagrid turned around and put his kitchen mitten hands into the pot. "Oh! Ooh! Oh!" said Hagrid, when he lifted whatever it was in the pot. He turned quickly and walked it over to the kitchen table, laying it down gently in front of the four.

Jo's eyebrows came together as she looked at the object that was moving slightly. "Hagrid," Jo said slowly. "What exactly is that?"

Hagrid shifted uncomfortably. "That? It's a- it's, umm-"

"I know what that is!" Ron exclaimed loudly. "But Hagrid, how did you get one?"

"I won it... off a stranger I met down at the pub," said Hagrid happily. "Seemed quite glad to be rid of it, as a matter of fact."

The roundish figure on the table started crackling and shaking more violently. The four took a few steps backwards away from the table, not knowing what was about to happen.

"And Ron," Jo said, looking at the object carefully, "What did you say it was again?"

But before Ron could answer, the thing on the table hatched, shooting the shell back in all directions. The four ducked and put their hands up, covering their faces. Jo had bent down under the table. When she popped her head up above the table, her jaw dropped.

"Is that..." Hermione began.

"...a dragon," finished Harry and Jo.

"That's not just a dragon," said Ron. "That's a Norwegian Ridgeback. My brother Charlie works with these in Romania."

Hagrid was looking at the baby dragon with so much love and affection. "Isn't he beautiful?" he asked, tearing up. "Oh, bless him. Look, he knows his mummy." Hagrid laughed as he took a finger and stroked the dragons long neck. The dragon squealed. "Hello, Norbert."

"Norbert?" Jo said in amazement.

Hagrid looked at her like she was crazy, "Yeah, well he's got to have a name, doesn't he? Don't you, Norbert?"

The four looked around at each smiling. Leave it to Hagrid to hatch a dragon egg in his home and name it Norbert.

Hagrid was tickling the baby dragon, Norbert, when all of sudden it gave a hiccup and coughed out fire straight at Hagrid's face. "OOH!" Hagrid yelled out, and his beard caught fire. He patted it down quickly with his hand, "Ohh, well... He'll have to be trained up a bit, of course."

"You don't plan on keeping him, do you, Hagrid?" Hermione asked nervously.

"Well of course I do," Hagrid said in disbelief. "Already have a three-headed dog... why not add a dragon." He picked Norbert up and placed him on his shoulder, stroking him gently.

Jo didn't know what to think. She loved Hagrid so much, but everything about this moment felt like a red flag being waved around. She didn't think it was a good idea for Hagrid to have a baby dragon in a house made of wood. Jo was about to explain that to Hagrid when he said suddenly, "Who's that?" pointing at the window.

The four looked over at the window to see a pale face and blonde hair. The eyes widen when they saw everyone looking at him, and then the face disappeared.

"Malfoy," said Harry angrily. "It was Malfoy."

"Oh, dear," said Hagrid.

Oh dear was right, Jo thought to herself. If Malfoy saw Norbert then Hagrid would be in so much trouble. And when Malfoy had information like this, it was never a good thing. Knowing him, he'd do something to get Hagrid and the four into whatever kind of trouble there is.

Jo looked over at the clock on the wall and gasped. "Is that really the time?" The gang had been out much longer than they anticipated. They should be in their common room right now.

"Oh, no," said Hermione, scared. "We have to get back to the castle. Especially now that Malfoy knows where we are."

The four hastily put on their cloaks and ran towards the door. Jo turned around at the last second. "Hagrid, what about-?" She looked at Norbert.

"Don't worry about him," said Hagrid. "Go on, quickly."

The four ran back to the castle quickly. "Why didn't we think to wear the invisibility cloak?" Jo wondered out loud. "What a stupid thing to be without."

"We've got bigger things to think about," said Harry when they were walking down a corridor. "Hagrid always wanted a dragon. He told us that the first time we ever met him, remember?" Jo nodded remembering that conversation. Harry added, "And worse, Malfoy knows."

"I don't understand," Ron said, "is that bad?"

"It's bad," Jo said, stopping in her tracks. The others looked to see why and then stopped as well. Professor McGonagall was standing in front of them with Draco Malfoy next to her.

"Good evening," Professor McGonagall said in a threatening tone, "Come with me."

The four followed Professor McGonagall back into her classroom. Jo looked nervously over at Hermione. Her face had paled significantly. Now they were done for it, Jo thought. Stupid, stupid, stupid, for not having the cloak.

Professor McGonagall stood behind her desk facing the gang and Malfoy. "Nothing," she began seriously, "I repeat, nothing, gives a student the right to walk about the school at night." Jo's knees felt a little weak. She had the upmost respect for Professor McGonagall and getting yelled at by one of her favorite professors was not something Jo ever wanted to experience. "Therefore, as punishment for your actions," Professor McGonagall continued in a stern voice, "50 points will be taken."

"50?" Harry exclaimed in disbelief.

"Each," added Professor McGonagall. Jo felt horrible. "And to ensure it doesn't happen again, all five of you will receive detention."

Malfoy took a step forward, "Excuse me, Professor," he said, "Perhaps I heard you wrong. I thought you said the five of us?"

"No, you heard me correctly, Mr. Malfoy," said Professor McGonagall. "You see, honorable as your intentions were, you two were out of bed after hours. You will join your classmates in detention."

Malfoy looked over at the four in anger. Jo felt herself smirk a little bit. Although she felt horrible about the turn of events that happen tonight, she was glad that Malfoy's plan to ruin the four's lives didn't go exactly as planned and now, he too, was in trouble.

"You will join Hagrid tomorrow night for detention. Now off to your common rooms now. Straight to your dormitories," said Professor McGonagall. The four turned and left quickly, walking back to the Gryffindor common room.

When they got back to the Gryffindor common room, Jo said, "Well, it only took to almost the end of the school year for us to finally get caught."

"Fred and George didn't even last that long," said Ron, plopping down on the sofa. "But fifty points each? I don't even think they've lost that may points combined at one time..."

"I can't believe I was given a detention," Hermione said, sitting down in disbelief still. "Me... of all people?"

"It'll do you some good," said Ron, and then the two started bickering.

"What is Hagrid going to do now?" Jo asked Harry. "He can't keep it. Malfoy probably told McGonagall."

Harry nodded, "I know. And he was excited about Norbert too."

The next night, the four walked down to the main entrance of the castle. Waiting for them was Malfoy and Mr. Filch. Malfoy was looking angrier than ever when he saw the four approaching. And Mr. Filch wore a smug smile. He clearly loved it when the students got in trouble. As soon as the four reached them, Mr. Filch turned and led them out onto the dark Hogwarts grounds.

As they made their way across the grounds to Hagrid's hut, Mr. Filch said to the group, "A pity they let the old punishments die." He swung his lamp ahead to light the path. "There was a time detention would find you hanging by your thumbs in the dungeons. God I miss the screaming," he added with a smile.

Jo made eye contact with Hermione. She didn't know what was worse, the fact that dentitions were that gruesome, or the fact that Mr. Filch seemed to take much pleasure in that torture.

"You'll be serving detention with Hagrid tonight," said Mr. Filch as soon as they were feet away from Hagrid's hut. Hagrid had just stepped out of his hut with a lamp in hand. "He's got a little job to do inside the Dark Forrest." Mr. Filch led the group over to the side of Hagrid's hut, where Hagrid was waiting for them. "A sorry lot this, Hagrid."

Hagrid gave a big sigh and sniffled. Jo noticed his eyes were puffy and his face was red. "Hagrid, what's wrong?" she asked.

Before Hagrid could answer, Mr. Filch said, "Oh good god, man, you're not still on about that bloody dragon, are you?"

Hagrid sniffled some more and addressed the gang, "Norbert's gone." Hagrid looked like he was about to start crying again. "Dumbledore sent him off to Romania to live in a colony."

"Well, that's good, isn't it?" asked Hermione. "He'll be with his own kind."

"Yeah, but what if he don't like Romania?" Hagrid said quickly. "What if the other dragons are mean to him? He's only a baby after all."

"Of, for god's sake, pull yourself together, 're going into the forrest, after all," said Mr. Filch. "Got to have your wits about you."

"The forrest?" Malfoy said quickly. "I thought that was a joke. We can't go in there. Students aren't allowed. And there are-" Suddenly the group heard a howl in the distant, "-werewolves!"

"He kind of has a point..." Jo muttered.

"There's more than werewolves in those trees, lad. You can be sure of that," said Mr. Filch. "Nighty-night." And with that, Mr. Filch left the group and walked back up to the castle.

Jo's heart rate sped up a bit. This was not the kind of detention she had in mind. What happened to good old fashion lines to write. "Right," said Hagrid, bringing Jo back to the present. "Lets go."

Hagrid let the group into the Dark Forrest. They walked on in silent. Jo inched closer to Harry. She couldn't help herself. As they ventured further and further into the forrest, the trees began getting closer and closer together, the roots larger and larger, the air colder an colder, and the darkness getting darker and darker. Jo could see her very own breath.

Hagrid suddenly bent down in front of the group, stopping them in their tracks. Jo walked over to the side of Hagrid to see what he was looking out. There, on the ground, was a slivery liquid substance in which Hagrid placed a finger in.

"Hagrid, what is that?" Jo asked, once Hagrid stood back up, wiping his fingers clean.

"What we're here for," Hagrid said very seriously. "See that?" he added, pointing at the liquid on the ground. "That's unicorn blood, that is."

Jo and the others mouths dropped. Unicorn blood, Jo wondered. That was an awful lot of blood.

"I found one dead a few weeks ago," Hagrid continued. "Now, this one's been hurt bad by something."

Jo's head quickly snapped to the side, she thought she saw something walking through the trees. She shivered. This place gave her the creeps.

"So, it's our job to go and find the poor beast," finished Hagrid.

"You do realize that we're only first years, right?" Jo asked. Hagrid gave her a look. Jo raised her hands up defensively. "I just want to make sure we're all on the same page."

"Not now, JoJo," said Hermione.

"Ron, Hermione, you'll come with me," said Hagrid.

"Okay," said Ron, looking like he was about to vomit.

"JoJo and Harry, you'll go with Malfoy."

"Great," muttered Jo. At least she would be with Harry.

"Okay, then I get Fang," said Malfoy, pointing to Hagrid's large dog.

Hagrid made a face and then said, "Fine. Just so's you known, he's a bloody coward." Fang whined. "Right now, if you get into any trouble at all, make a red spark with your wand. You all know how to do that, right?" Hagrid asked. Everyone nodded their heads yes. "You three," Hagrid said, looking at Jo, Harry, and Malfoy, "Take that way. We'll go this way." And then the group split into two, going their separate ways.

The Potters tried to keep their distance from Malfoy as they traveled along what looked like to be a trail. Fang was close on their heels, which meant Malfoy was right behind them. Jo's eyes scanned around again. She could of sworn she saw something earlier, but what it was, she didn't know. Jo's fingers tightened around her wand. Better to be prepared than caught off guard.

However, should couldn't help herself from freaking Malfoy out. She turned around suddenly and said, "Boo!" It was the best reaction she could have hoped for. Malfoy nearly jumped 5 feet of the ground.

"Stop that," Malfoy snapped at her. Jo turned back around giggling. "You wait until my father hears about this. This is servant's stuff."

"If I didn't know better, Draco," said Harry, "I'd say you were scared."

"Ooooh," Jo said.

"Scared, Potter?" Malfoy sneered.

Another howl could be heard in the distant, but this time, it was much closer. Malfoy swung the lamp around quickly, looking all around. "Do you hear that?"

"Point proven," Jo said and Harry smirked.

"Come on, Fang," Malfoy said, taking the lead. Jo heard him muttered scared under his breath and winked at Harry.

They continued walking on into the forrest without much chatter. Jo just couldn't wait for this night to be over and to be back in her nice cozy four poster bed which was all she was thinking about.

The trees started to open up in front of them, creating a clearing that was still dark with fog all around the area. Jo was walking behind Fang, who suddenly stopped and started growling, looking straight ahead of the group.

"What is it, Fang?" Jo whispered.

Fang kept growling, not looking away from whatever had his attention. Jo looked over at Harry and Malfoy. Harry's jaw dropped open and Malfoy's face paled so quickly. Jo slowly turned her head in the direction that everyone else was looking at.

In front of the group, in the clearing before them, was a unicorn laying on the ground. And just behind the unicorn, was a hooded figure, with its hood down. It's head was down by the unicorn's neck. Jo felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up and she suddenly felt really cold. She took one step backwards when Harry gave gasp, his hand flying up to his scar.

"Ah," he whispered rubbing his scar with his hand.

The hooded figure lifted his head and growled at the kids.

"AHHHHH!" Malfoy screamed and took off running back in the direction they had come from, Fang running after him barking.

Jo took another step backwards, bringing Harry with her. The hooded figure glided over the unicorn, hovering over the ground. Jo took a gulp and her eyes widening in fear and her mind blank. She just kept taking step after step backwards as the figure came to its feet and approached the twins.

Harry was next to Jo one second, and the next, she found him on the ground. He had tripped over a tree root and his cloak was stuck. Oh no, Jo thought, and quickly started pulling on her brother, "Come on, Harry," she said urgently. The hood figure was almost on top of them. "Think Jo, think," she whispered, trying to remember what Hagrid told them to do. And then it clicked and Jo quickly sent a red spark up in the air. She knelt down next to Harry, holding on to him tightly, closing her eyes and waiting for the figure to strike.

But it never came. Instead, the sound of hoofbeats came as something very large jumped over the twins. It pushed the the hooded figure back away from the twins, raising it's hooves. The hooded figure moved backwards and glided away and out of sight.

Jo let out a breath of relief after she had been holding her it for quite some time in fear. She stood up and helped Harry to his feet as well. Then turned to the creature that stood before them. It was part man and part horse. "You're a centaur," Jo said, stating the obvious.

The centaur inclined his head. "And you, Harry and Joanna Potter. You must leave," he said in a deep voice. "You are known to many creatures here. The forrest is not safe at this time, especially for you."

"But what was that thing you saved us from," Harry asked.

"A monstrous creature. It's a terrible crime to slay a unicorn. Drinking the blood of a unicorn will keep you alive, even if you are an inch from death. But at a terrible price. For you have slain something so pure, that from the moment the blood touches your lips, you will have a half-life. A cursed life," the centaur said.

Jo looked at the dead unicorn before them. "But who would choose such a life?" she asked. Her heart ached for the creature dead before her, how it had been slain by a terrible person.

"Can you think of no one?" the centaur asked.

Jo looked over at her brother quickly, "Do you mean to say," she began.

"That thing that killed the unicorn, that was drinking it's blood," Harry said quickly over his sister, "that was Voldemort?"

Jo's blood ran cold as she came to the same conclusion as Harry. Voldemort was feet away from them, the man who murdered their parents and changed their lives forever. He was just here before them.

The centaur stood right in front of the twins now. He bent down to their level and asked, "Do you know what is hidden in the school at his very moment?"

Jo gasps and Harry's eyes widened. "The Sorcerer's Stone," they said together.

Before the centaur could reply, Jo could hear Fang barking again. And then Hagrid, Ron, Hermione, and Malfoy came into view of the twins.

"JoJo! Harry!" Hermione cried. "We saw the red spark! Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Jo said back, "we're okay!"

"Hello there, Firenze," Hagrid said. "I've see you've met the Potter twins."

Firenze turned back to the twins, "Harry and Joanna Potter," he said, "this is where I leave the two of you. You're safe now. Good luck." And with that he inclined his head again to the twins and walked away from the group and back into the darkness of the forrest.

"You mean, You-Know-Who's out there, right now, in the forrest?" Hermione asked in disbelief when the gang was back safe and sound in the Gryffindor Common Room.

Jo was sitting by the fire, trying to get herself warm, going over what happened to her and her brother in the forrest. "He's weak, though," she said. "He's living off of the unicorns."

"Don't you see? We had it wrong," Harry added. "Snape doesn't want the stone for himself. He wants the stone for Voldemort."

"With the elixir of life," continued Jo, "Voldemort will be strong again. He'll- He'll come back." Jo was looking straight into the the fire. She didn't want to think about that at all, but she knew what she was saying was true.

"But if he comes back," Ron said, "You don't think he'll try to kill you two, do you?"

"I think if he'd had the chance, he might have tried to kill us tonight," Harry said. Jo stood up and sat down next to Harry.

"And to think I've been worrying about my Potions final..." Ron muttered.

"Hang on a minute," Hermione said quickly. "We're forgetting one thing." Jo looked at her questioningly, not following. "Who's the one wizard Voldemort always feared?"

"Oh," Jo said. "Dumbledore."

"Right!" said Hermione. "As long as Dumbledore's around, Harry and JoJo, you can't be touched. As long as Dumbledore's around, you're safe. As long as Dumbledore's around, you can't be touched."

Jo smiled at Hermione. "You're right."

When Jo went to bed that night, her mind was all over the place. After the events that took place tonight, and the major discovery of Voldemort, Jo knew a peaceful nights' sleep was not in the works for that night.


	16. Chapter 15

Days had now passed since that night in the forrest and final exams were now here as students made it to the end of the school year. Somehow, Jo wasn't quite sure how she did it, managed to make it through her exams all the while worrying that Voldemort would pop out from behind a random corner in a corridor at any given moment. But with Snape not acting any differently than his norm, the gang had decided that Fluffy was still protecting the Stone behind the locked door on the third corridor. And with knowledge that Dumbledore was always around, the gang felt a little more safer.

Jo had told herself that she had prepared herself well for her exams, but she was still extremely nervous. And just as Hermione had said, the students were all given an Anti-Cheating bewitched quill for the written exams, much to Ron's delight. To go along with the written portion of the finals, the students also had practical exams too, where some professors brought them in one by one and tested their spell performance.

Professor Flitwick had them make a pineapple tap dance, and Professor McGonagall had them transfigure a mouse into a snuffbox. Both of which Jo believed she did excellently. And Professor Snape made the class make a Forgetfulness potion without any directions. Jo was pretty sure she aced that as well. School was, after all, one of her stronger qualities.

Since the night in the forrest, Jo's nightmares had returned again and she couldn't shake them. The hooded figure she and Harry had encounter in the forest, Voldemort, was all she saw at night. So the fact that she was able to get through her finals thus far, with hardly any sleep and being anxious all the time throughout the day, had to be a miracle.

In the beginning of the week, Jo had noticed her brother rubbing his scar a lot, sometimes even wincing. When Jo had questioned Harry about it, he shook it off and said it was a headache. But as the week went on, Harry would sometimes gasp in pain clutching his forehead. It wasn't until Jo cornered Harry alone did he finally tell her.

"I see Voldemort every night," Harry had told her. "in my dreams. And then when I wake up, my scar is always burning."

"I'm dreaming about Voldemort, too, Harry," Jo told him. "But like Hermione said, as long as Dumbledore is around, we're safe, right?" And every time Jo had seen Dumbledore at dinner or walking around the corridors, Jo always felt better and knew that she was okay. But as to why Harry's scar was burning more now than ever before, Jo had no answer for her brother.

The last exam the gang faced was History of Magic, and Jo had to be honest, this one she could care less about. It was the only class Jo really had a hard time paying attention in. Not that she didn't find the history of her world fascinating. It more so had to do with the fact that Professor Binns could always put her to sleep. Jo couldn't be any happier when the exam was finished and she had made it through her first year of finals in one piece.

It was a beautiful day out and now that finals were over for everyone, the gang thought it would be nice to go out and enjoy the rest of their day out on the grounds.

They were out in the courtyard when Hermione was going on and on about the finals. "I'd always heard Hogwarts end-of-year exams were frightful. But I found that rather enjoyable."

"Speak for yourself," said Ron. "All right there, Harry?" Harry had rubbed his scar again.

"My scar," he said. "It keeps burning."

"It's happened before," Hermione said.

"Not like this," said Jo, giving her brother a worried look. It was happening more frequently.

"Perhaps you should see the nurse?" Ron offered. They were passing by Hagrid's hut where Hagrid could be seen sitting on his front steps, playing a flute.

"I think it's a warning. It means danger's coming," Harry said, stopping suddenly. "Of course."

"Harry?" Jo asked, confused at the sudden change in behavior. "What is it?"

Harry then led the others towards Hagrid. "Don't you think it's a bit odd that what Hagrid wants more than anything is a dragon and a stranger turns up who just happens to have one? I mean, how many people wander around with dragon eggs in their pocket? Why didn't I see this before?"

"What's he going on about?" Ron asked Jo.

Jo shrugged, "Beats me. We may be twins, but even I don't know how to read Harry's mind sometimes."

Harry rolled his eyes, "Come on," he said, picking up the pace to Hagrid's.

When they reached Hagrid, Harry said quickly, "Hagrid, who gave you the dragon egg? What did he look like?"

Hagrid thought for a moment. "I don't know," he said. "I never saw his face. He kept his hood up."

"This stranger though, you and he must have talked," Harry said, pressing on. Jo was beginning to have an idea of where her brother was taking this.

Hagrid shrugged, "Well, he wanted to know what sort of creatures I looked after. I told him, I said, "After Fluffy, a dragons gonna be no problem."

"Did he seem interested in Fluffy?" Jo asked.

"Well of course he was interested in Fluffy," Hagrid said. "How often do you come across a 3-headed dog, even if you're in the trade? But I told him, I said-I said 'The trick with any beast is to know how to calm him.' Take Fluffy for example. Just play him a bit of music and he falls straight to sleep." The four all looked around at each other quickly as Hagrid realized what he just said. "I shouldn't have told you that. Wait, COME BACK!"

They were already sprinting back up to the castle. They didn't speak a word to each other as they ran straight for McGonagall's classroom. They all knew they had to tell Dumbledore, but seeing as they didn't know where his office was, McGonagall was their next best option. The gang sprinted all the way up to her desk, where she sat grading papers.

"We have to see Professor Dumbledore, immediately," Harry said, reaching Professor McGonagall first.

Professor McGonagall looked at the four sternly. "I'm afraid Professor Dumbledore is not here. He received an urgent owl from the Ministry of Magic and left immediately for London."

"He's gone?" Jo asked in disbelief. "Now? But this is important!"

"This is about the Sorcerer's Stone," Harry added quickly.

Jo knew that was exactly what Professor McGonagall was not expecting to come out of their mouths. Her expression changed immediately to shock. "How do you know-?"

"Someone's going to try and steal it," Harry said.

Professor McGonagall looked at the four very seriously. "I don't know how you four found out about the stone, but I assure you, it is perfectly well-protected. Now would you go back to your dormitories? Quietly."

The four felt defeated as they walked out of her classroom and back out into the corridor. Dumbledore was gone and McGonagall didn't believe them. What was going to happen now?

"That was no stranger Hagrid met in the village," Harry said to the others as they stood outside of McGonagall's office. "It was Snape, which means he knows how to get past Fluffy."

"And with Dumbledore gone," Jo added. It wasn't looking good for the stone. Now was the perfect time to strike.

"Good afternoon," said a voice from behind them. The four cringed and turned around slowly to face the man they wanted to avoid most. Snape. "Now what would four young Gryffindors such as yourselves be doing inside on a day like this?" Snape's eyes landed on Hermione.

"Uhh-we- we were just-" Hermione stammered.

"You want to be careful," Snape cut her off. "People will think you're up to something." Snape's eyes landed on Harry before he turned and left them standing in the corridor.

"Now what do we do?" Jo asked quickly when Snape was out of earshot.

"We go down the trap door," Harry said, watching Snape disappear. "Tonight."

Harry was right, Jo thought to herself. Who else was going to stop Snape. Dumbledore was gone. McGonagall and Hagrid for that matter, didn't believe what the gang had to say. There was no one else but them to stop Snape. It was up to them to protect that stone and from stopping Snape from getting it to Voldemort. They couldn't let that happen. No, they wouldn't.

Later that night, when the rest of the Gryffindors were sleeping, the gang decided to make their move. Jo quietly snuck out her bed and looked around. Three of the four poster beds had their curtains drawn about, the other girls fast asleep. Hermione had just gotten out of her bed as well. Jo quietly opened her trunk and searched around for the silky cloak. Her hands found what she was looking for, and she pulled the invisibility cloak out. Jo smiled at Hermione and they walked quietly out of their dormitory and met Harry and Ron at the bottom of the stairs.

"Let's go," Harry said and they started walking across the common room. As they were passing one of the chairs, Harry saw Neville's toad sitting at the top of the back of the chair. "Trevor."

"Trevor, shh, go! You shouldn't be here!"

Neville stood up from in-front of the chair in his pajamas. "Neither should you," he said accusingly. "You're sneaking out again, aren't you?"

"Now, Neville, listen," Jo said gently. "We were-"

But Neville cut her off. "No! I won't let you. You'll get Gryffindor into trouble again. I-I'll fight you." And he put two hands up into fists. Jo, however, wasn't convinced one bit that Neville would lay a hand on anyone.

Hermione sighed and pulled out her wand. "Neville, I'm really, really, sorry about this," she said, and points her wand at Neville, "Petrifucus Totallus."

Neville's arms suddenly snapped to his sides and his legs snapped together. He swayed for a moment, his body rigid, and then fell hard backwards onto the ground. He was frozen. Hermione had done a full body-bind on Neville.

Ron gulped in the silence. "You're a little scary sometimes, you know that? Brilliant, but scary."

"Oh, Neville," Jo said, she ran over to the couch and picked up one of the pillows and returned back to Neville. She placed the pillow under his head. "Sorry," she whispered. Only Neville's eyes could move in response.

"Let's go," Harry said again, and led the gang out of the common room.

As the others walked passed Neville, they each said sorry. Ron bringing up the rear said, "It's for your own good, you know."

The four walked under the cloak together, almost walking on top of each other to make sure their feet wouldn't be seen. "Ow! You stood on my foot!" Hermione hissed at Ron.

"Sorry," Ron whispered back.

Luckily for the gang, they hadn't seen one person on their way down. They were just about at the locked door on the third floor corridor when Jo pulled out her wand. She pointed it at the door and said, "Alohomora," and the door unlocked.

"Right, Jo," Harry said before they opened the door completely. "Do you have the flute Hagrid gave you for Christmas?" The plan was to play that so that Fluffy would fall asleep. Music was his weakness according to Hagrid.

Jo stuck her hands in her pockets and froze. They were empty. "Oh, no, I forgot it!" she whispered.

"Great," said Ron. "Now, what?"

"Hang on," Hermione said, "Do you hear that?"

The four moved closer to the door. They could hear music playing from inside the room. The four looked around at each other and nodded in agreement to go on. They had the invisibility cloak on, Fluffy wouldn't be able to find them. So they entered the the room quietly and closed the door behind them.

A harp stood off to the side, playing a melody. And low and behold, Fluffy, all three heads of him, was sound asleep on the floor.

"He's snoring," Harry said in amazement just as Fluffy let out a breath and the invisibility cloak came off them.

Jo looked over at the harp. "Snape's already been here. He's put a spell on the harp."

They approached the dog slowly. The trap door was under one of its' paws.

"UGH! It's got horrible breath," said Ron, covering his noes.

"We have to move its paw," said Harry.

"What?" 

"Come on!" Harry said, leading the way. And the four bent down next to the giant paw and pushed as hard as they could to free the trap door. Fluffy didn't stir one bit. Hagrid was right, Jo thought to herself, Fluffy really did enjoy music. Once the paw was moved, Ron and Harry opened the trap door together.

The four bent down and looked down into a pit of darkness.

"That doesn't look like somewhere I wanna go," Jo whispered. "Just saying."

Harry looked around at the others, "I'll go first. Don't follow until I give you a sign. If something bad happens, get yourselves out," He looked at Jo. "All of you."

Jo was about to say something back when she noticed something suddenly. "Does it seem a bit quiet to you?" she asked the others.

Hermione looked back at the harp. "The harp stopped playing," she said.

"And it's darker in here too, isn't it?" Jo asked. A large shadow seemed to engulf the four.

"Ugh YucK!" Ron said suddenly. Jo saw Ron's shoulder covered in a slimy substance.

This wasn't good, Jo thought to herself. The four all slowly turned their heads upwards. And towering above the four was Fluffy, wide awake, teeth baring, and starting to growl at them.

"JUMP!" Harry yelled at the others.

Harry went in first, followed quickly by Jo, then Hermione, and lastly Ron, all of them screaming on the way down. They had all made in the hole just in time as Fluffy lunged for them. They fell about fifty feet deep into the darkness before landing on something soft.

"Woah," said Ron, looking around. "Lucky this plant-thing is here, really."

Jo was looking around to see if there was a way out, when the the plant they were all sitting on began twisting like a snake and wrapping itself around the gang, all of whom started to struggle to break free.

Jo's ankles and knees were tied together tightly and she tried desperately to pull free. The plant wrapped around tighter and tighter the more she struggled.

"Stop moving, all of you," said Hermione. "This is Devil's Snare. You have to relax, it'll only kill you faster."

"Kill us faster? Oh, now I can relax," Ron said panicky. Both he and Harry continued to struggle against the Devil Snare. But Jo, despite wanting to fight back as well, listened to Hermione and remained completely still. She knew Hermione was right.

And suddenly, Jo and Hermione sunk beneath the plant, falling another 10 feet and landing on the hard ground. Jo stood up quickly and helped Hermione up.

"Hermione! Jo! Where are you?" They could hear the boys calling for them.

"Harry, we're fine!" Jo called back. "Just do what Hermione said. It'll be okay. Trust me!" Jo and Hermione shared a nervous glance.

"Just relax," Hermione yelled again.

Seconds later, Harry came through the bottom of the plant and landed next to the girls.

"Harry, are you okay?" Jo asked, helping her brother up.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine."

"HELP!" they all heard Ron yelling.

"He's not relaxing, is he?" said Hermione, pacing back and forth.

"Apparently not," the twins said together.

"We've got to do something" Hermione said.

"What?" asked Harry, impatiently.

"I remember reading something in Herbology," Hermione said looking at Jo. "Um- Devil's Snare, Devil's Snare, it's deadly fun- but what? What am I forgetting?"

"But will sulk in the sun," Jo said suddenly remembering. "Devil's Snare hates sunlight!"

"That's it! Of course," said Hermione. She pointed her wand up at the Devi's Snare. "Lumus Solem." A blinding white light shot out from her wand and the Devi's Snare shrieked. Ron suddenly landed on the ground with a thud. Harry helped him up.

"Whew," Ron said, once he stood up and wiped himself clean. "Lucky we didn't panic."

Jo rolled her eyes.

"Lucky that these two pays attention in Herbology," said Harry.

"Come on," said Jo moving forward. "This way." There was a door at the end of the hall. When they got closer, they could hear something.

"What is that?" Ron asked.

"I don't know," Harry answered. "It sounds like wings."

Jo pushed open the door and the four entered a large room with high ceilings. A fluttering sound of could be heard from above.

"You were right, Harry," Jo said, looking up in amazement. "It is wings."

"Curious," added Hermione. "I've never seen birds like these."

"They're not birds. They're keys," said Harry. "And I'll bet one of them fits that door."

Across the room, in front of the four was another door leading out of the chamber. Ron moved straight towards the door pulling his wand out. "I'll go with him," muttered Hermione, following Ron.

Harry and Jo stopped in the middle of the room where a broomstick was hovering over the ground. "What's this all about?" Jo asked her brother. Harry shook his head. "I don't know."

"Alohomora," Ron said from across the room. The door lock rattled but did not unlock. Ron turned back around to the others looking defeated. "Well, it was worth a try."

"Uhh! What are we going to do?" asked Hermione in frustration. "There must be 1,000 keys up there." All four of them looked up at the ceiling where the keys continued to fly around idly.

"We're looking for a big, old fashioned one. Probably rust, like the handle," said Ron.

"There!" I see it!" Harry said, pointing up at one of the keys. "The one with the broken wing." He looked back down at the broom.

"What's wrong?" Jo asked.

"It's too simple."

"Oh, go on Harry! If Snape can get on that old broomstick, you can," Ron said encouragingly.

"Ron's right, Harry," Jo added. "If anyone can do, it's you. You're the youngest Seeker in a century. You can do this." Jo and Harry locked eyes for a moment, and Harry nodded. He placed his hand on the broomstick, and chaos erupted.

As soon as Harry's hand touched the broom, the keys flying around above went into attack mode and swarmed Harry and Jo. Harry quickly go on the broomstick and Jo ran towards Hermione and Ron. Once Harry was in the air, all the keys started following him and flying in all sorts of directions around him.

"This complicates things a bit," Ron said.

"He just had to say it was too simple," Jo muttered. "Come on, Harry."

Harry flew after the key with the broken wing all over the chamber before finally catching it after about a minute. He flew back towards the others and shouted, "Catch the key!" and threw it as hard as he could at them. Jo jumped up and her hand closed around the key. She raced over to the door, and jammed the key in quickly, unlocking the door. The three ran in immediately, waiting for Harry. Once they were inside, Harry jumped down quickly off his broom and sprinted into the next room. Ron and Hermione closed the door quickly behind him on the keys. There was a loud banging noise from the other side of the door as the keys tried to follow Harry through.

They all were out of breath, as if they had been running for hours. "And that dear brother, is why you are the Seeker," Jo said, easing the moment.

There was another door at the end of the hall to which they wasted no time moving to and entering the next room. It was much larger and darker than the previous room.

As they made their way forward, Jo noticed giant statues. They moved slowly between them, further into the room. "I don't like this," Hermione whispered. "I don't like this at all."

"Where are we?" asked Harry.

"A graveyard?" Jo offered. She had no idea. But like Hermione, she didn't like this one bit.

Ron sighed and moved forward ahead of the other three. "This is no graveyard," he said. He looked around as flames suddenly came to life around the room. "It's a chessboard." The others followed him out to the middle of the floor, looking around.

This was the biggest game of chess Jo had ever seen.

"There's the door!" Harry said pointing across from them. They made straight for the door, but were stopped in their tracks as the chess pieces in front of them suddenly came to life and blocked their way to the door. The four slowly took steps backwards.

"Now, what do we do?" Hermione asked.

"It's obvious, isn't it?" Ron asked the others.

Jo nodded. "We have to play our way across the room, don't we?"

"Exactly," said Ron, taking charge. Jo didn't have a problem with that. If anyone knew had to play chess, it was Ron. He was brilliant at it. "All right, Harry, you take the empty bishop's square. Hermione, you'll be the Queen's side castle, JoJo, you take that empty pawn spot-"

"Pawn?" Jo asked quickly. "Aren't those the pieces everyone takes out the easiest?"

Ron rolled his eyes, "You'll be fine, don't worry. And as for me, I'll be the Knight, got it? All right, everyone to their places."

Jo walked over to an empty pawn spot on the front line. She was beginning to think if Ron had hit his head or something. She looked around at the others in the back line and gulped. Come on Jo, you're a Gryffindor, she thought to herself. Five..four..three..two..one.

"What happens now?" Hermione asked.

"Well, white moves first. And then... we play," said Ron.

Jo looked across the board to the other pieces waiting to see which one would move first. A pawn to her left moved forward first. There's the first move, Jo thought, and then... "Hang on," Jo said quickly, "You don't suppose this is going to be like real wizard's chess, do you?"

Ron looked around at his pieces and then said, "You there, D-5," pointing to a pawn. The pawn moved across the board, diagonally from the other pawn. Nothing happened at first, and Jo felt a sense of relief. But then the white pawn's swords were drawn and it crushed the black pawn in half, pieces flying in every direction.

"Yes, JoJo," Ron said slowly. "I think this is gonna be exactly like wizard chess."

Jo stood there paralyzed. "And I say again, aren't pawns the guys everyone takes out the easiest?"

"You'll be fine," Ron said nodding, "I can do this."

Jo took a deep breath and closed her eyes, "I know you can." And the chess game began.

Ron took command of the board really well, Jo thought to herself. She had to give him credit. He did a great job at making sure that she, Harry, and Hermione were all kept safe and no moves by the white side targeted them. The chess board soon was littered with pieces of black and white stones of chess pieces being destroyed. Jo knew absolutely nothing about chess, but she had such confidence in Ron and knew he'd be able to win it for them.

It was their move again, and for the first time that evening, Ron hesitated. He eyes scanning the board as he was deciding the next move, and Jo saw on his face it was a move he didn't want to make, but knew he had to.

"What's wrong, Ron?" Jo asked.

"Wait a minute," Harry said suddenly.

"You understand right, Harry," said Ron. "Once I make my move, the Queen will take me. Then you're free to check the King."

"Take you?" Jo said slowly.

"No. Ron, no!" Harry yelled.

"What is it?" Hermione asked, confused.

"He's going to sacrifice himself," Harry answered.

"No, you can't!"

"Ron, there has to be another way."

"Do you want to stop Snape from getting that stone or not?"

"But, Ron," Jo was at a loss of words.

"Jo, it's you and Harry that has to go on. Not me, not Hermione, but the two of you," said Ron seriously. "I know it."

Jo looked at Harry, there had to be something else they could do. But Harry was looking at Ron intently, and nodded his head. Jo let out a breath. That was it.

Ron gave big sigh and said, "Knight to H-3." The night piece that Ron was sitting on moved forward and to the left, in the direct path of the Queen. "Check," he said nervously.

Jo didn't watch, yet at the same time she couldn't take her eyes off the Queen. It felt like hours before the Queen moved towards Ron. Jo felt like her heart was going to pound right out of her chest. She could see the panic on Ron's face as the Queen approached him slowly, now standing right before him. Jo wished she could be there and not Ron. It wasn't fair that he'd take this hit.

The Queen stopped right in front of Ron and didn't move for a few seconds. Then, it raised it's sword and pieced the middle of the Knight piece. Ron gave out a yell and was flung off the Knight. He hit the ground hard, pieces of the Knight falling down on him.

"RON!" Everyone yelled. He didn't moving.

Jo and Hermione both made a step towards Ron, but Harry yelled, "NO! Don't move. Don't forget, we're still playing."

Jo nodded shakily, "Oh, right..."

Harry looked at both of the girls and then moved across the board towards the King. Once he was standing in front of the King, he said very loudly, "Checkmate." The King's sword fell from his hands, and just like that, the chess game was over. They had won.

The three sprinted over to Ron as fast as they could. He was unconscious with a cut along his face, but he was alive and that was a relief to the three.

Hermione was the first to speak. "You two go on. Ron was right. It has to be you two."

"You'll look after him, won't you?" Harry asked, looking down at this best friend.

"Of course," Hermione said.

Jo looked at Hermione. They were right, she and Harry had to go on and face whatever came next, even if that meant Voldemort himself.

"Send a message to Dumbledore," Harry added. "Tell him where we are."

Hermione nodded. "You'll be okay, the both of you. As long as you two stay together and don't leave each other, you'll be fine. You're a great wizard, Harry. And you a great, witch JoJo. But together, you two are extraordinary."

"You're just as great, Hermione," Jo said, pulling Hermione into a tight hug.

Hermione chuckled, "Me? Books and Cleverness. But there are more important things. Friendship and bravery." Then she added. "Just be careful, will you? And stay together."

The Potters nodded and said goodbye. They walked over to the door to continue on. Jo gave one last look back over her shoulder to Hermione. She gave her a small smile and a wave. Then Jo followed her brother onto the next challenge to come.

Harry and Jo walked down several flights of stairs that led farther and farther down beneath the castle in silence. Jo was sure the end would be near. And she was right. The last flight of steps led to an open chamber. There, in the middle of the room, stood the Mirror of Erised. And standing right beside the mirror was the last person either Potter expected to see there.


	17. Chapter 16

"You're not Snape," Jo blurted out after a moment of confusion. Standing there before the twins was the last person they would have expected. Professor Quirrell.

Professor Quirrell gave a cold, harsh laugh. "No, I'm not," he said. Jo looked over at Harry. This was a new Professor Quirrell, someone they've never seen before and if Jo didn't know any better, she'd say he was more dangerous than ever before. He smiled at the twins, "I was beginning to wonder if you'd ever show."

Jo shook her head. It just didn't make sense to her. "But you—we thought Snape—"

"Severus?" Quirrell laughed again. "Yes, he does seem the type, doesn't he?"

"It can't be you…" Harry trailed off. He, like Jo, was having a hard time believing what they were seeing and hearing. Harry took a few steps towards Quirrell and Jo followed. Hermione's warning of staying together was still fresh in her mind.

"I see I've done my part well," Quirrell smiled. It chilled Jo to the bones. "Who would ever suspect p-p-poor st-st-st-stuttering Professor Quirrell? Snape would seem like the obvious choice, would he not?"

"But that day at my quidditch match," Harry said, trying to put the pieces together.

"Snape tried to kill Harry, I know it. I saw him," said Jo.

Quirrell narrowed his eyes at her. "No, silly girl, I tried to kill Harry! And believe me, if Snape's cloak hadn't caught fire and broken my eye contact, I would have succeeded. Even with Snape muttering his counter-curse."

"Snape was trying to save me?" Harry asked in disbelief. Harry kept moving towards Quirrell and it was making Jo uncomfortable. Quirrell seemed unstable to her before, but this, this was a whole new level. They had no idea what he was capable of. "Harry," she said quietly, putting her hand on his arm warningly.

"I knew you were a danger to me right from the off. Especially after Halloween."

Jo looked Quirrell straight in the eyes, eyes filled with hatred. "So you let the troll in on Halloween."

"Very good, I knew that smart brain of yours would eventually figure it out," said Quirrell, clapping his hands together in delight. He's crazy, Jo thought to herself. "Snape, unfortunately, wasn't fooled. While everyone else was running about the dungeons, he went to the third floor to head me off. He, of course, never trusted me again. But he doesn't understand," Quirrell said. His eyes were distant as he wore a crazed smiled. "I'm never alone. Never." Then he turned to face the Mirror of Erised.

Jo whispered to Harry urgently. "Harry, we have to go now, while we still can. We can't take him on… He's- He's crazy. We have to go get help." She pulled on her brother's arm gently. "Harry, please."

They took a couple steps back slowly, keeping their eye on Quirrell. They were getting closer and closer to the doorway. "We run as fast as we can on three," Jo whispered. "One… two—"

"Now… what does this mirror do?" Quirrell said and the twins froze. "I see what I desire. I see myself holding the stone. But how do I get it?"

"Use the boy," said a voice. Harry and Jo looked all over the chamber. They weren't aware of another person there with them. And no one else was around. But where did the voice come from?

Quirrell yelled across the room at them, "Come here, Potter! Now!"

"No," Jo said firmly, taking a step in front of her brother. The voice said 'use the boy.' But she wasn't going to let that happen.

"Jo, stop," Harry said quickly. "Don't."

Jo ignored him, keeping her place between Harry and Quirrell. She looked at Quirrell with as much hate as she could muster. She wasn't going to let him take Harry from her.

However, as serious as Jo felt, Quirrell didn't see her as a threat at all. "Move aside," he said in a threatening tone.

Jo held her ground, "No."

Quirrell scoffed at her. "Fine, I'll move you myself, then." He raised a hand to her and Jo felt a sudden invisible force sweep her off her feet as she flew sideways away from Harry. Jo felt a searing pain to the side of her head as she slammed into a pillar and fell down to the ground hard, landing on her side.

Jo grunted in pain as she tried to sit herself up. But the pain to her head was so great; her brain couldn't tell her body what she wanted it to do. Her vision was blurring and she couldn't see straight. Darkness took her for a moment before she heard Harry scream her name and was pulled out of it.

"JOANNA!"

Jo tried to call back to him, but she couldn't find the words. She looked up in time to see a blurry version of Harry running towards her, then feeling a sudden burst of heat and seeing orange and yellow in front of her. She was disoriented.

"Come to me now, Potter," Jo heard Quirrell say in threatening tone. "Or your sister will suffer much more than that."

Jo squeezed her eyes tight and took several deep breaths, which only caused her more pain. She opened her eyes slowly. She could see a little bit better, but her vision was still burry around the edges. Jo raised her right hand to her head and it felt wet. Holding hand in front of her eyes, she saw her hand red with blood. Jo felt sick, but she pushed the feeling down. She had to stay with it.

She moved herself onto her hands and knees. Each breath she took felt like a stab to the side. She must have broken a rib or two. With a grunt, Jo took whatever strength she had to lift herself up on her feet, leaning against the pillar. She swayed for a moment, but closed her eyes to let the moment pass.

When she reopened her eyes as her vision was almost back to normal, she was surprised to see a ring of fire before her, to which Harry, Quirrell and the mirror where in the middle and Jo on the outside. Now she understood where all the heat had come from.

Jo walked as close to the fire as she could without getting burnt. She walked around the ring, searching for a point of entry to get to Harry. Quirrell had separated them and it worked to his benefit. And to Jo's dismay, there was no chance of her getting to her brother. The flames were too hot and there was no opening for her. She took out her wand and said every spell she could think of to put the fire out, but nothing would work. Quirrell's magic was no match for a first year.

Jo felt herself swaying and the sick feeling returned. She moved to the closest pillar and leaned against it. There was nothing she could do. She thought she could go back and get help, but that required her to leave her brother, which wasn't an option. Instead, Jo stayed where she was, watching her brother and Quirrell through the flames, praying that her brother wouldn't be harmed.

Harry looked for her again when he was moving towards the mirror. Quirrell wore a look that could kill. Harry and Jo's eyes locked for a moment. Then Harry held up five fingers, then four, then three, two, and one. Jo nodded and took a deep breath. Let the fear go, she told herself. If Harry could be brave right now, so could she. Her hand tightened on her wand as she watched Quirrell shove Harry in front of the mirror.

"Now… tell me. What do you see?" Quirrell demanded of Harry.

Jo watched her brother look into the mirror and gasp.

"What is it? What did you see?" Quirrell said agains quickly.

"I'm- I'm shaking hands with Dumbledore," Harry began. But Jo saw Harry move his hand very subtlety to his pocket, and then move it away quickly. Quirrell missed it, but Jo saw. Her brother was lying. "I've won the house cup."

Quirrell looked disappointed. And then…

"He lies."

It was that voice again, the one that had spoken earlier. Jo again looked around waiting to see another person, but no one was there but three of them.

"Tell the truth!" Quirrell yelled. "WHAT DO YOU SEE?"

Harry took a step backwards. Jo was beginning to panic again. "Think Jo, think! What would Hermione do?" Why couldn't she think of the right spell to get rid of the fire?

"Let me speak to him," said the strange voice again.

Quirrell looked worried for a moment. "Master, you are not strong enough."

"I am strong enough for thisssssss." And with that, Professor Quirrell started to unwrap his turban.

Both Jo and Harry were frozen where they stood, watching Quirrell unwrap his turban piece by piece. He turned his back to Harry and then removed the cloth completely. Jo took a step back in horror. Surely she had hit her head too hard. How else could she explain the hideous face on the back of Quirrell's head?

"Harry and Joanna Potter," the face said to them. That was who was speaking to them earlier. "We meet again."

"Voldemort?" Harry said and Jo inhaled deeply. Harry was stuck down there with Voldemort, and Jo couldn't do a thing about it. She had never felt so helpless in her life.

"Yes," Voldemort hissed. "You see what I've become? See what I must do to survive? Live off another, a mere parasite. Unicorn blood can sustain me, but it cannot give me a body of my own. But there is something that can. Something that, conveniently enough, lies in your pocket!"

Jo saw Harry's eyes widen, taking several steps away from Voldemort.

"Don't be a fool. Why suffer an horrific death when you can join me and live?" Voldemort asked.

"Never," Harry said back.

Voldemort laughed a cold laugh, a laugh that Jo thought she had heard before from somewhere. "Bravery. Your parents had it, too. Tell me, Harry, do you wish to see your mother and father again? I know your sister would like that very much. To have a family again. Together, we can bring them back. All I ask is for something in return."

Harry reached into his pocket and pulled out the stone. That was what Harry had felt for when Jo had seen her brother moments ago reach for his pocket and then move his hand away quickly. He had seen himself in the mirror with the stone, and now he had it. But how?

"Harry, don't listen to him!" Jo yelled out to her brother. "He's lying! He just wants the stone. Then he'll kill you! He'll kill both of us! Don't give him the stone!"

Harry looked at his sister through the flames and nodded. He looked back at Voldemort with fierce defiance. "No."

Voldemort's face turned cold as ice. And all that panic came rushing back. What worried her most was that Harry was stuck in the ring of fire with Voldemort and Quirrell, and he had the stone. What they wanted most. But Jo, Jo was on the outside….

"Harry!" Jo called out suddenly. "The stone! Give me the stone!" Jo ran to the part of the circle that she could get to Harry the closest. "Throw it! NOW!"

"SIEZE HIM!" Voldemort yelled, but Quirrell was too late. Harry had thrown the stone as hard as he could over the flames to Jo, who caught it right in the air with two hands and started running towards the doorway that led out of the chamber as fast as she could. Her head was pounding and her vision blurred again, but she pushed herself on past the pain and sickness.

Voldemort gave out a piecing scream that stopped Jo right in her tracks. She turned around to see Harry not that far from her, and the flames somehow, vanished. Now there was nothing between her and Voldemort, except...

"Get her, NOW" said Voldemort in a deadly voice. It seemed like Quirrell came back to life because he started moving towards Jo with quick speed, flying at her.

"NO!" Harry yelled, and he jumped in-between Jo and Quirrell, taking the hit. Quirrell landed on top of Harry and started to choke him.

"Harry!" Jo called and stumbled back to her brother. Her vision was more blurry this time. That last bit of running really didn't do anything help.

Harry was struggling with Quirrell, his hands trying to pull Quirrell's away from his throat. Before Jo could reach Harry however, Quirrell gave out a cry of pain and stood up quickly, backing away from Harry. His hand was smoking and it crumbled away, turning to ash.

"What is this magic?" Quirrell screamed.

Jo stood right next to Harry now. "How did you do that?"

Harry looked down at his hands in surprise.

"You fool, get the stone!" Voldemort cried out.

Quirrell locked eyes with Jo and started moving towards her again. But Harry, yet again, blocked his path and threw his hands onto Quirrell's face. Quirrell cried out in agony again and took several steps backwards screaming, as did Voldemort. His face did the same thing as his hand. It crumpled away and turned to ash. All that was left of Quirrell was his robes and a pile of dust.

"Whoa," Jo said, letting out a breath. Then she looked down at her hand at the stone. "We did it," Jo said, looking back up at Harry.

Harry was smiling at Jo in relief, "We did, didn't we?"

Jo moved forward to give her brother a hug, but stopped in her tracks. The dust of what was left of Professor Quirrell was circling behind Harry, rising into the air. Jo gave a gasp and pointed behind Harry, who turned around quickly.

Voldemort's face had formed into a mist from the dust. It charged at Harry, screaming, and tore right through him. Harry cried out and fell down to the ground, unconscious.

Jo took several steps backwards as the face stopped in front of her. "We will meet again," Voldemort's voice said, and then it disappeared right out of the chamber and out into the night.

Jo gave a sob and collapsed to the ground. She crawled back over to Harry. She shook him a couple times, but Harry didn't stir. "Harry, I'm so sorry," Jo whispered to her brother as tears fell from her eyes. She moved Harry's head onto her lap, wiping blood from his face. "I'm so sorry."

A hand gently rested on Jo's shoulder. She turned her head around, maybe a little too quickly, to see Professor Dumbledore looking right back at her with concern eyes. "It's okay. You're safe now," he told her. Jo nodded, her head pounding even more now, and she felt the darkness creeping back up. She had no more energy to keep it together. Her vision darkened and she felt and saw no more.

Hours later, Jo finally came to. She opened her eyes to a high ceiling. Leaning up on her elbows to sit up, she saw a row of beds across from her and a row of beds on either side of her, one which was occupied by her brother, Harry. Jo's head felt heavy as she pushed herself up into a sitting position. She brought her hand up to head and could feel a bandage on the right side of her head.

"Oh, my dear, you're awake!"

Madame Pomfrey came right over to her bedside and looked her up and down. "How are we feeling?"

Jo winced as she moved herself into a more comfortable position. "Like I have the worst headache in the world. And my side is sore."

Madame Pomfrey nodded. "The soreness should pass in a few days. You had two broken ribs that I've already mended. As for the head, you have a concussion. But I had to wait for you to wake in order to give you this." She picked up a bottle from Jo's bedside table. "One glass of this and everything will feel all right again." She poured the potion into a goblet and handed it to Jo.

"Thanks," Jo muttered, drinking the whole potion. Within seconds she felt the affects. The headache was disappearing. "I feel much better now."

Madame Pomfrey smiled and then moved over to check on Harry.

"How's he doing?" Jo asked. She saw his hand wrapped in a bandaged, but other than that, he appeared to be fine.

"Oh, he'll manage. Just needs a bit of rest, that's all," said Madame Pomfrey. "And you'll be able to leave within the hour." Jo nodded.

When she entered the Gryffindor Tower an hour later, she was greeted by a tight hug and bushy hair in her face. Hermione had nearly tackled her.

"JoJo, you're all right!" She nearly screamed. The other Gryffindors watched curiously and started whispering to each other. Apparently word was already spreading throughout the castle.

"I'm fine, Hermione, really. And so it Harry. He's just sleeping."

"We were going to come see you two," Ron said, joining the girls, "But Madame Pomfrey wouldn't let us. She said to wait until tomorrow."

"Ron! You're okay too!" Jo said, giving him a hug. "You were brilliant at chess, you saved all of us!" Ron's ears turned red from the praise.

They moved over to their favorite corner in the common room and Jo filled them in on everything that had happened after the chess match. Hermione was on the edge of her seat, biting her nails the entire time.

"You-Know-Who was on the back of Quirrell's head?" Ron asked in disgust. "I always thought it smelled funny."

"Ron," Hermione scolded him. "I can't believe we all made it out alive."

"Me too," Jo said. "Not going to lie, but I was scared we weren't."

The two asked Jo about the stone, but she told them she didn't know what happened to it after Dumbledore arrived.

"I saw him out in the corridor," Hermione said. "And he only said, 'They've gone after the stone, haven't they?' Then he disappeared.

Jo had several questions she wanted to ask, but she knew Ron and Hermione weren't the ones to ask. She needed to speak with Dumbledore.

The next day, the three went to the hospital wing to visit Harry, but he was still asleep. Ron brought a bunch of candy for Harry and it wasn't until he was through the third box of chocolate frogs that Jo told him off for eating candy meant for Harry.

Since Harry was still out of it, they decided to go to the Gryffindor vs Ravenclaw quidditch match. Oliver Wood had to find a last minute Seeker for the team. And to Jo, it looked like it was his first time on a broomstick. And without Harry, Gryffindor suffered the worst defeat in the history of Gryffindor quidditch. Harry was in for a rude awakening when he wakes up. Wood won't let this go, Jo thought.

After the match, Jo told Ron and Hermione to go to the feast without her, that she'd meet them there. She wanted to check on Harry first. On her way to the Hospital Wing, she ran into Professor Dumbledore himself.

"Professor Dumbledore," Jo blurted out. She wasn't expecting to be seeing him.

"Good evening, Miss Potter," said Dumbledore, "Though I imagine for your fellow Gryffindors it is not such a good evening, after that devastating loss to Ravenclaw."

Jo laughed. "I was just on my way to see Harry."

Professor Dumbledore smiled, "May I accompany you?" he asked.

"Okay."

They walked to the hospital wing, mostly in silence, but that didn't bother Jo. Walking beside Dumbledore made Jo feel like everything would be okay again. Her questions could wait.

When they walked through the doors of the hospital wing, Jo gasped. Harry was sitting up in his bed on his own. "Harry," she exclaimed, and ran over to jump onto of his bed, giving him a hug. "You're awake! How are you?"

Harry hugged her back tightly. "I'm fine. But what about you?" he asked, looking at her head. "You look okay."

"Yeah, Madame Pomfrey patched me up."

"Good evening, Harry," Professor Dumbledore said, making his presence known. "Ah. Tokens from you admirers?"

"Admirers?" Harry asked.

"From Ron, really. Though, I think he brought them more for himself than you," said Jo. "He almost ate all the chocolate frogs before I made him stop."

Professor Dumbledore chuckled.

"Ron was here?" Harry asked quickly. "What about Hermione? Are they okay?"

"They're okay, Harry. Really," Jo assured her brother.

Harry nodded and then asked quickly, "But what happened to the stone."

That, was an excellent question, Jo thought. She had no idea. She remembered having the stone in her hand after Harry had thrown it to her, and she remembered Dumbledore was there after Voldemort disappeared, and she knew the stone was in hand. But after that, nothing. She assumed that Dumbledore had taken it, because once she woke up in the hospital wing, no more stone.

"Relax, dear boy." Professor Dumbledore said raising his hands. "The stone has been destroyed. My friend Nicholas and I have had a little chat and agreed it was best all around."

"But then, Flamel... He'll die won't he?" Jo asked, feeling sad.

"He has enough elixir to set his affairs in order," said Dumbledore as he pulled a chair over next to the bed and sat in front of the twins. "But yes, he will die."

"How is it I got the stone, sir? One minute, I was staring in the mirror, and the next-"

"Ah." Dumbledore said, pointing a finger, "You see only a person who wanted to find the stone- find it, but not use it- would be able to get it. That is one of my more brilliant ideas, and between the three of us, that is saying something."

"Does that mean, with the stone gone that is, that Voldemort can never come back?" Harry asked.

Jo looked down right away and took a deep breath. She had left that part out in telling Ron and Hermione about what happened. The words echoing in her mind 'we will meet again'.

"Jo?" Harry asked, looking at her with concern.

Jo looked over at Dumbledore, his blue eyes seeing right through her. "He told me we'd meet again," she said quietly, looking down at her intwined fingers.

Professor Dumbledore nodded slowly. "I'm afraid there are ways in which he can return," he said. Only confirming Jo's fears.

"Professor Dumbledore," Jo said, another question she had. "How was Harry able to, I don't know... Quirrell couldn't handle Harry touching him. How come?"

Professor Dumbledore was silent for a moment. And then said, "It was because of your mother."

"Our mother?" the twins said together.

"She sacrificed herself for you, and that kind of act leaves a mark." Harry moved his hand to his scar on his forehead. "No, no," Dumbledore said quickly. "This kind of mark cannot be seen. It lives in your very skins."

"What is it?"

"Love," said Dumbledore simply. "Love."

Jo was about to ask another question, when Dumbledore waved his hands and stood up. "No more questions for now," he said. "Another time, perhaps." He walked over to the sweets on Harry's table. "Ah. Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans." He picked up the box, looking through it. "I was most unfortunate in my youth to come across a vomit-flavored one, and since then, I'm afraid I've lost my liking for them. But I think I could be safe with a nice toffee."

Jo smiled at her headmaster. He was a strange man, she thought to herself.

Dumbledore placed a bean in his mouth and chewed quietly. "Mmm. Alas. Ear wax." And with that, he left the twins alone.

Jo looked over at her brother. "You were so brave, Harry. Standing up to Voldemort like that, and Quirrell. I was scared for you when I was on the other side of the fire... but you didn't show any fear."

"But I was scared, Jo," Harry said to her. "I was scared when I didn't have you by my side."

"You didn't need me, Harry."

"Of course I did," Harry said. "I always do. Hermione was right. When we're together, we make a good team. And you were quick to think about throwing the stone over to you. I had no idea how get rid of it then when Quirrell was coming towards me."

"Thanks, Harry," Jo said quietly. "I'm just glad we made it out alive."

"Me, too."

"Harry! You're awake!"

"Come on! It's the final feast!"

Ron and Hermione came running into the hospital wing.

Madama Pomfrey popped her head out of her office. "What is all this noise? Mr. Potter is- awake?" She came hurrying over to Harry's bed.

"I'm up, I've never been better," Harry said quickly. "Now can I go to the feast? It's the end of term!"

"Now, wait just one minute."

"Madame Pomfrey, please?" Jo pleaded. "You let me leave the hospital wing an hour after I woke up. And Harry's been asleep for two days. I think he's very well rested."

"Please?"

"Yeah, come on. Please?"

Madama Pomfrey sighed. "Fine, you may leave in 15 minutes. Just let me do a couple tests first."

"YES!"

The others moved out of the hospital wing and into the corridor while Madame Pomfrey ran a few tests on Harry, just to be sure that he was all right. When he came out from the hospital wing, he was dressed in his Hogwarts clothes and had a big smile. "All clear," he said.

"Come on, we're going to be late," said Ron.

When they entered the Great Hall, it was decorated in green and silver with Slytherin banners hanging from the ceiling. Slytherin had won the house cup for having the most points.

"Such a depressing sight," Jo muttered.

"I'm only here for the food," said Ron.

"Here, here."

As they walked along the Gryffindor table, whispers erupted throughout the hall as people pointed and stared at the twins. "It's been like this the last couple days," Jo told her brother. "Everyone's trying to figure out what happened, but no one really knows."

When the food came out, Jo was in heaven. Hogwarts really out did itself this time around. She was really going to miss the food a lot over the summer when she returns to the Dursleys.

A dinging sound came from the staff table and Dumbledore rose to his feet. The hall quieted down instantly. "Another year gone," Professor Dumbledore said, addressing the students. "And now, as I understand it, the house cup needs awarding, and the points stand thus- In fourth place, Gryffindor, with 302 points."

A small applause went across the hall. Every Gryffindor looked miserable and Jo felt horrible about it. Losing those 200 points for Norbert really hurt Gryffindor and they weren't able to make a come back. And everyone knew who to blame for that.

"In third place, Hufflepuff, with 352 points." Another applause. "In second place, Ravenclaw, with 426 points." There was a louder applause for this and some cheers could be heard here and there. "And in first place, with 472 points, Slytherin!"

The Slytherin table erupted with loud cheers and were banging on the table with excitement. Jo saw Malfoy smirk at her from across the hall. She wanted the throw her pudding in his little pale smirky face.

When the cheering quieted down a bit, Dumbledore continued on, "Yes, yes. Well done, Slytherin. Well done, Slytherin. However, recent events must be taken into account and I have a few last-minute points to award."

The hall was absolutely quiet now.

"To Miss Hermione Granger," said Dumbledore. Jo looked over at her friend and smiled excitedly. "For the cool use of intellect when others were in grave peril, I award Gryffindor House, 35 points."

The Gryffindors began clapping loudly. Their glum expressions were disappearing.

"Second, to Mr. Ronald Weasley, for the best-played game of chess that Hogwarts has seen these many years, 35 points."

Again, the Gryffindors started cheering. Ron's brothers, Fred and George, slapped him on the back congratulating him. Ron's face was red from all the attention.

"Third, to Ms. Joanna Potter and Mr. Harry Potter," said Dumbledore, and Jo's heart stopped. "For pure nerve and outstanding courage, and for standing by each other when faced with a challenge and meeting it head on, I award Gryffindor House, 50 points, each."

"We're tied with Slytherin," Hermione said excitedly, and the Gryffindor table cheered more loudly, knowing that they had a chance at winning the House Cup.

"And finally, it takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to your enemies, but a great deal more to stand up to your friends," said Dumbledore. "I award 10 points to Mr. Neville Longbottom."

Jo clapped loudly with the rest of the Gryffindors as she looked over at Neville's face. He was completely stunned.

"Assuming that my calculations are correct," continued Dumbledore over the cheers, "I believe that a change of decoration is in order." He waved his wand at the Slytherin banners hanging from the ceiling and they changed to the Gryffindor colors. "Gryffindor wins the House Cup"

Jo couldn't believe it. And like her fellow Gryffindors she was standing up on her chair cheering and clapping away. They beat Slytherin and Malfoy. It was the greatest way to go out after her first year at Hogwarts. And not only were the Gryffindors cheering, but Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs joined in as well, happy that Slytherin finally lost.

Before Jo knew it, she was back on the Hogsmeade train station with all the other Hogwarts students. It was time to go back to the Dursleys for the summer holiday. Jo had put her trunk and Hedwig in the back of the train with the other students' trunks when she heard the voice of Hagrid.

"Hurry up," Hagrid was calling. "You don't want to miss the train now."

Jo pulled Harry over to say goodbye to Hagrid.

Hagrid smiled down at them. "Though you were leaving without saying good-bye, did you?" Then he reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a book. "This is for you two," he said, shoving the book into Jo's hands. Jo opened the book to the first page. She almost lost her breath.

It was a picture. A picture of all four of the Potters. Harry and Jo were just babies in the photo. Jo was being held by her father, and Harry by their mother. The picture was moving, like most wizard photos do, and in it, you could see James and Lily Potter smiling down on their children with some much love and affection. Jo felt a tear slide down her face and she wiped it away quickly.

"Hagrid," Jo managed to get out, "I don't know what to say?"

Hagrid smiled broadly at her. "How about a thank you."

"Thanks, Hagrid," Harry said, and both he and Jo rushed Hagrid, giving him a hug.

Hagrid patted both of them, "Go on. On with you," he choked out.

The twins let go and took a couple steps backwards, smiling up at Hagrid. Jo saw Hagrid wipe away a tear as well.

"Oh, and listen you two," he said, "If that dolt of a cousin of yours, Dudley, gives you any grief, you cold always, um, threaten him with a nice pair of ears to go with that tail of his."

Jo laughed. "But, Hagrid, we're not allowed to do magic away from Hogwarts. You know that."

"Oh, I do. But your cousin don't, do he? Eh?" He winked at the twins and chuckled. "Go on."

The twins waved and walked over to the door to hop on the train where Ron and Hermione were waiting for them. "Feels strange to be going home, doesn't it?" Hermione asked.

"We're not going home," Harry said, looking back up at the castle. "Not really." Jo nodded, also looking back up at the castle. Hogwarts was their home now. Harry was right.

The train whistle blew and the the twins hopped onto the train. They waved to Hagrid one last time.

Jo stuck her head out the window, as the Hogwarts Express was pulling out of the station, watching the castle disappear from view. Her first year at Hogwarts was now over. Her and Harry's lives had been changed for the better when Hagrid showed up with their Hogwarts letters. And her first year was everything and more than Jo could ever had imagine. She had her ups and downs, she met some amazing people, has a best friend she knows she'll never be able to get rid of, learned so much in all of her classes, and was challenged like never before. But for now, she was returning back to the Dursleys and she was okay with that. She had Harry by her side and she knew they'd be okay. And before she'd know it, she'd be back on this train back at Hogwarts. And with that thought on her mind as she watched the castle disappear from view, she whispered to herself, "We'll meet again soon."


	18. The End

Hey everyone! Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed it enough and stuck around this long, stay tuned for Chamber of Secrets. If you didn't enjoy it, sorry about there. I know I'm not that best writer but you know, you learn as you go along. Thanks to everyone who wrote reviews. I very much appreciated your encouragement, friendly criticism, and your opinions. Thanks again. Jo Potter will be back for Chamber of Secrets. (:


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